– When students in general find it tighter and tighter financially, it is not surprising that students in Oslo struggle extra. Everything has become more expensive, especially rental housing. Leader of the Norwegian Welfare Council in Oslo and Akershus Karl Magnus Nikolai Coronus Dretvik Nyeng is worried. It is now almost a month until the start of studies, and thousands of new students will soon be heading for the capital. Whether everyone will find a place to live is far from certain. Record-long waiting list – We have figures going back in time, where we have had up to 7,000 on the waiting list. But this is the highest number in recent times, says managing director of the Student Union in Oslo (SiO) Andreas Eskelund. 7,459 students are on the waiting list for student accommodation in Oslo as of 3 July. 200 more leases have been created in the past year, but it is far from enough: the queue has increased by 11 per cent in the same period. Never in recent times has the demand for student housing been so high, says SiO’s Andreas Eskelund. Photo: Petter Sandberg / SiO On 1 August, SiO will raise the rent by 4.9 per cent. Lower than the increase in the consumer price index of 6.5%, and significantly lower than the general increase in rental prices in Oslo of 11.9% last year. Eskelund is convinced that this price difference between the student association and the private rental market helps to explain the increased demand for student accommodation. Because the temperature in the private rental market is high. And on 20 July, students will find out where they will get a study place, and demand is expected to rise even more. Heated rental market – Now when an apartment in Oslo is rented out for an average of almost NOK 19,000 a month and a dormitory well over NOK 10,000, it is clear that it is cause for concern for the housing situation, says manager of FINN Eiendom Jørgen Hellestveit. The marketplace FINN recently came up with fresh figures on the rental market. Since 2020, the number of rental properties lying outside has decreased by around 10,000. In Oslo, the average rent for a room in a housing association is now NOK 7,550 per month. FINN Eiendom’s Jørgen Hellestveit reports jam-packed viewings and fierce competition for rental properties in Oslo. Photo: FINN – Now we see record traffic on the rental ads, and fewer people rent out. There will be fewer homes for students and other tenants, and there will be a lot of competition for those who are outside, says Hellestveit. Going beyond mental health The interest organization Velferdstinget is not only concerned about whether the students will have a roof over their heads when the autumn comes. 1 in 3 students struggle with serious mental health problems, and the Norwegian Council of Welfare fears that students will have to spend more and more time on part-time jobs instead of being social or getting involved in volunteering. – The tighter and more expensive the housing market in Oslo becomes, the more students have to work even more alongside their studies. – And it takes up a lot of the students’ free time that they could spend on things they want to contribute to, says Nyeng.
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