Help, my room is turning into a studio!
Maybe it happened to someone you know, or you've experienced it yourself: the student house where you have lived happily for years with great housemates must be vacated. The reason? The landlord wants to convert your room and those of your housemates into studio apartments. Goodbye cozy house, hello expensive studios. But why does this happen so often in Groningen? In this article, I'll take you through a bit of history, explain what Student & Stad is doing to prevent this, and provide tips in case this happens to you.
Why has this been happening so much in recent years?
In 2017, the municipality of Groningen relaxed the rules regarding the conversion of rooms into studios. Before 2017, landlords had to build a studio of at least 50m2, which wasn't very attractive to slumlords because these studios were very expensive and there was little demand for them. In 2017, the municipality saw that there was demand among students for independent studios with their own kitchen and bathroom, and due to the relaxation of rules, studios only needed to be 23m2. As a result, slumlords could easily turn five student rooms into four or three studios and rent them out just below the rent allowance threshold. Ultimately, the student paid just as much for a studio as for a room, and the rent allowance disappeared straight into the landlord's pockets.
This new municipal policy therefore worked far too effectively. Between 2017 and 2022, 3,200(!) student rooms disappeared from the city, replaced by fewer than 2,400 studios. In a student city where there was already a crying shortage of student housing in 2017, this is a heavy blow both for students looking for housing and for students who are forced to leave their home after years of living together happily.
What is Student & Stad doing to prevent this?
From the moment stories reached us of students who were forced to leave their homes, we brought attention to this issue in the city council. Partly due to the attitude of the municipal executive, it took a very long time to get other parties on board. The executive board actually favored studios for students because they believed there was more demand for them and because, according to them, students in studios caused less nuisance than student houses.
After years of lobbying and raising awareness for this issue, we finally managed to secure a majority in the city council in 2021 to reverse this policy. In 2022, the executive board adopted this stance and set to work to prevent the conversion of student rooms into studios.
All's well that ends well, then?
Unfortunately, not quite. This is where it gets a bit complicated. Because landlords, unlike homeowners who live in their own properties, cannot freely dispose of their property (after all, there are tenants in the building), this policy cannot simply be reversed overnight by the municipality without running a high risk of being sued by landlords claiming that they were just planning to convert their building into studios and are now losing money because of the municipality. Legally, it is all much more complicated than the municipality realized in 2017, and as a result, it will still take some time before the disappearance of rooms in favor of studios is definitively over. On a positive note, the municipality has announced that they want to reverse this policy so that a landlord who buys a new property now cannot claim they didn't see it coming, but for existing properties it could still take a few years before the risk for the municipality is gone.
What can I do if my landlord wants to convert our student house into studios?
The most important thing is to know that, as a tenant in the Netherlands, you often enjoy a great deal of protection ensuring that you cannot simply be evicted from a home. For instance, you do not have to agree to a renovation. Landlords often just send a letter demanding that you vacate the property within a few months, but this is not allowed at all! Nothing gets converted unless the tenants (or at least a majority of them) agree to the renovation plans. You are also always entitled to alternative accommodation if you do agree to the renovation.
A quick summary of the tips:
Never simply agree to eviction due to renovation!!!
Contact Steunpunt Huren Groningen and seek advice.
Consult with your housemates. Were you and your housemates already planning to move in the short term anyway? Then it might be advantageous to let your landlord buy you out.
If you agree to the conversion into studios, demand that your landlord provide you with alternative accommodation.
Is a legal conflict looming? Then you can turn to the Juridisch Loket.
Let us know! Contact Student & Stad and we will try to help you.
Contact:
Student & Stad: fractie@studentenstad.nl
Juridisch Loket: 0800-8020
Coehoornsingel 1, 9711BS in Groningen
Opening hours: Monday 09:00 - 11:00
Tuesday 14:00 - 16:00
Thursday 09:00 - 11:00
Steunpunt Huren: info@steunpunthuren.nl
050-7851453
Damsterdiep 36, 9711SM in Groningen
Walk-in consultation hour Wednesday 13:00 - 15:00
