This year, about 115,000 places in dormitories are waiting for studying youth. The GetHome.pl portal has checked in which academic cities their availability is the highest and what expense female and male students, who manage to get such accommodation, will have to reckon with.
“For studying youth, university dormitories are usually a much cheaper option than renting an apartment on their own. Few can afford a studio. So students often group together to share the cost of renting a larger apartment. And this is a very big expense,” says Marek Wielgo, an expert from the GetHome.pl portal.
According to data from this portal, the most expensive place to study is Warsaw. Renting a two-room apartment here costs on average around PLN 4.2 thousand per month, and a three-room one – around PLN 6 thousand. If we assume that two people will live in the first one and three in the second one, the cost per head is around PLN 2 thousand. It is slightly cheaper in Kraków, Wrocław, and Gdańsk. In these cities, the average monthly rent for a two-room apartment is currently around PLN 3.2 thousand. For a larger one, you have to pay well over PLN 4 thousand. The cheapest are Białystok, Kielce, Olsztyn, and Toruń. For example, a two-room apartment in the city of Nicolaus Copernicus University can be rented for an average of around PLN 2.2 thousand, and a three-room one – for PLN 2.3 thousand per month.
“In practice, rents can be lower, as the site lists offer rates. Let’s also remember that students usually aim for apartments cheaper than the market average. In addition, in each of the academic centers, rents are diverse and their amount depends on the location, but also on the standard, e.g. in Gdańsk the rental of a studio flat costs on average PLN 2.4 thousand, but you can find even 30-40% cheaper”, says Marek Wielgo.
And how much does a place in a dormitory cost? Despite the 10-15% increases resulting mainly from the increase in media and maintenance costs, the fees are still competitive compared to renting. According to data published on the Strefa Edukacji portal, depending on the city, the number of people in the room, and its standard, the cost can range from around PLN 300 to even PLN 1.5 thousand per month.
The problem is that – as GUS reports – there are only 443 university dormitories in the whole country, which can accommodate only about 115,000 students. In practice, there can be even 30 thousand fewer places in dormitories due to the dismal technical condition of the buildings. In smaller academic centers, there is often not even one student house. In the largest cities, there are places in private dormitories, but there are still few of them. Meanwhile, in the previous academic year, over 1.2 million female and male students were studying at 354 higher education institutions, including over 107 thousand from abroad.
This means that in the entire country, on average, only every tenth student can count on a place in a university dormitory. GetHome.pl and Numlabs company checked in which of the 13 largest academic cities in terms of the number of students, they have the greatest chances for it.
The expert from the GetHome.pl portal also draws attention to the fact that there is a chance to improve this disastrous indicator. The ministries: Development and Technology and Science and Higher Education announced a program to support the construction and renovation of dormitories. Universities would receive financial support from the Subsidy Fund at the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego.
The program that supports the construction of dormitories would improve the housing situation of not only students but also other people interested in renting apartments. This is because dormitories would “free up” thousands of flats for rent for young people who want to become independent or migrate to work in the largest cities – comments Marek Wielgo.
And he admits that there are no hard data regarding the number of apartments rented by studying youth. However, in the largest cities, the scale of this phenomenon is definitely huge. The survey last year, conducted by analysts from the AMRON Center, may suggest that almost four out of 10 students live in a rented apartment. In Warsaw, there are therefore tentatively tens of thousands of people using rent. They most often live in three-, four-person groups, renting two- and three-room apartments. The AMRON study shows that only 13% of tenants can afford the “luxury” of an apartment alone. This means that – cautiously counting – only in the capital the needs of students are satisfied by at least several thousand premises.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/znikoma-dostepnosc-miejsc-w-akademikach-i-rosnace-koszty-wynajmu-mieszkan-dla-studentow-33513
