Giulia Argento (25) from Italy is conducting a PhD study at Biomedical Engineering. She wonders why the Dutch often start living together so early. “In the Netherlands you see relatively many students living together even during their studies. In Italy this hardly ever happens. Is there a reason for this?”

When asking around at university and checking out several forums we actually only come up with one argument - which is obvious for the Dutch: it often works out more cheaply. Students studying in the same city and both renting rooms can often save money by renting one place together.

In the Netherlands people earning less than a certain income qualify for rent support. You are not entitled to this support when you live in a students’ residence, whereas you are when you rent a place independently. This subsidy is income-related: the lower your income, the higher the subsidy. And considering that students’ income today is often not soaring, the result of this subsidy in many cases is that it is cheaper to rent an apartment together than each student having their own student lodgings. (HB)