On March 22 students occupying a building at Manchester University were forcibly evacuated. The students, who had occupied the building for over a month were protesting against the rent costs and living conditions in university accommodation.
They are not alone. The student housing crisis is world-wide, and it is hitting international students particularly hard.
At the beginning of March around 40,000 Chinese students descended on Australia, following their government’s decree that they could no longer study on-line at home for foreign degrees. According to Reuters, at The University of New South Wales, where a quarter of all student come from China, its on-campus accommodation was staff were rushing to refurbish university apartments. At nearby Sydney University the 2,400 dormitory beds were already taken but they were leasing 700 more from outside providers.
In Dublin, where problems with accommodation last year saw English Language students sleeping in their cars, language schools are looking to build their own residences. The accommodation shortage is also hitting local students with one set of parents writing to the government complaining that their daughter, a student at the University of Limerick, was living in a garden shed, according to the Irish Times.
And the problems are not restricted to the Anglosphere. In January the Dutch government urged its universities to cap the number of international students they enrolled. Insufficient housing and packed lecture halls were the main reasons given for the request. Student housing is sparse in the Netherlands where most students live with their parents and commute to university using free student train tickets.
