Photo: Joris Schaap At the beginning of April, the number of vacated rooms was higher than at the same moment in 2019. Idealis spokesperson Hellen Albers thinks that was partly due to students who were already intending to end their rental contracts, and did so earlier than planned because of the corona crisis. Since then, the number of contract terminations has stabilized and is back to normal.
‘There are roughly the same number of vacant rooms as usual: about 300 rooms that have been vacant for longer than one month,’ says Albers. ‘Other vacant rooms are already being rented or have been reserved. Every year, in anticipation of the next academic year, Idealis reserves hundreds of rooms for international students. This is done in consultation with the university. Right now, it is still unclear how many international students will be able to come here in September to start their degrees. If numbers are lower this year, there will be more rooms available for Dutch students.’
Construction plans going ahead
A total of 730 rental contracts have been terminated so far in 2020. At the same time last year, the number was 751, more than this year. ‘That is partly because the Nieuwe Kanaal complex was completed last year,’ says Albers. ‘Then 65 students moved into that complex from another complex, so there were 65 more terminated contracts. If you subtract those, slightly more contracts have been terminated this year than last.’
In spite of the uncertainty that the current situation brings with it, the corona crisis has not affected Idealis’s construction plans. ‘We are not going to adjust our long-term plans on an ad hoc basis just because there may be less demand in the short term. We consult the university on the situation regularly. You need a crystal ball to have any idea how things will be on 1 September. It depends on government policy here and on what happens internationally. At the moment it is anyone’s guess, so we are just carrying on with our plans for Kirpestein (127 rooms to be ready by summer 2021, ed.) and Costerweg (264 rooms to be ready by summer 2021, ed.).’
