Student Housing

Shelter our students.jpeg — Shelter Our Students Maastricht

There is a housing crisis in Maastricht! Many students have not found a place to stay at. The university and the municipality are not taking enough short-term actions. So we need to help each other. This is why we have started a couch surfing initiative. These are people from Maastricht helping homeless students out of solidarity.

Help our Students HERE

Actions & Achievements

• Collaboration with the national student union (LSVB) and the Setup of a committee consisting of multiple student representation parties in order to broaden knowledge and receive more backup in initiatives for the improvement of housing.
• Clarification has been obtained on housing policy cycles, which enables us to better identify opportunities in lobbying towards better housing conditions for students.
• The new housing program for 2020-2030 has been presented at a municipal level. We have provided critical feedback on the program, advocating the flexibility in housing supply and advocating for better housing regulations. This has been taken up by political parties, such as D66 who then encouraged the counselor on housing and environment to look into this. However, this program is still in development and efforts are still required to ensure long term improvement of student interests.
• Established communication with the Huurteam-Zuid Limburg, a free legal office set-up by the municipality and UM who provides free advice and help towards renters whenever they have any rent related issues https://huurteam-zuidlimburg.nl. In addition, MSU’s and KAN’s dedication goes towards contributing towards the Huurteam and making their services more known.
• Sharing information on student housing rights

The quality and conditions of student housing influence not only academic performance, but also student wellbeing. We are helping students with getting access to their housing in the (legally) right conditions. We have established clear communication between students, housing policymakers and stakeholders with a significant emphasis on housing rights. An example is the lobbying at the municipality on housing policy to improve the protection of tenants' rights, MSU’s goal on this spearhead is to remove the incentive for landlords to overcharge the rent on their property. This is not only an important cause for the students of Maastricht, but for all people in Maastricht who rent their living space