Student housing: potential and prospects

The housing market for students has been tight for years. Rising energy and construction costs are currently exacerbating the situation. In order to engage in an exchange with various stakeholders from the university landscape, politics, student unions, planners, funding bodies and housing companies, the Department of Real Estate Project Development (iPE) at RWTH Aachen University, together with Studierendenwerk Aachen, hosted a specialist conference on student housing.

The event offered an exciting exchange on the topics of "Potential for the student housing market" and "Prospects for the future of student housing". Host Prof. Dr.-Ing. Elisabeth Beusker from iPE welcomed around 120 interested people to the Ford Hall in Super C and began by explaining the reasons for the exchange. "The current housing market shows how precarious the situation is and that we need to respond to it. When we walk through our city centers, we see a massive vacancy of retail stores - this contradicts the thesis that we don't actually have any space. It's time to think about new housing models, in collaboration with the city and the student unions."

First, Dr. Martina Kroher and Frederike Gerdes from the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies presented selected results of the "Student Survey in Germany", which was conducted in 2021 in cooperation with Deutsches Studierendenwerk and paints a picture of the economic situation of around 188,000 students. Housing conditions and the financial situation were discussed in particular. Dr. Christian Oberst, Senior Economist for Housing Policy and Real Estate Economics at the German Economic Institute, then spoke about the market development of small apartments and shared apartments on the independent housing market (source: MLP Student Housing Report 2023).

Desire for individual apartments
Lisa von Wittenhorst presented the results of another, somewhat less extensive survey. As a research assistant and doctoral student at iPE, she conducted a study last year in collaboration with Studierendenwerk Aachen on the needs and satisfaction of residents in Aachen's halls of residence in order to visualize students' ideas and wishes for future housing projects.

The study with over 1,200 participants showed that shared flats - at least in Aachen - are no longer one of the most popular forms of living, but that the desire is mainly for a single apartment with its own bathroom and kitchen. Maintaining social contacts remains an important part of living together; students are increasingly in favor of spacious communal areas and various leisure activities. The location of the hall of residence is also an important criterion: the hall of residence should be close to the city center and the university; a walk of more than three kilometers is considered unfavorable and too long. Sustainability aspects no longer play a subordinate role either: waste separation and ecological or energy-efficient construction of the facilities are now taken for granted.

Conversion and extension of the Aachen student towers
The presentation by Cologne architect Juan Pablo Molestina, Managing Director of Molestina Architekten + Stadtplaner GmbH, who designed the conversion concept for the four residential towers in Rütscher Strasse together with the French architectural duo Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, was particularly practice-oriented. Molestina explained to the audience the idea for the cost-efficient expansion of living space and the densification of the inner area to create a district center. A total of over 1,200 student residences are to be created.

Jürgen Huber, Managing Director of Studierendenwerk Bonn and Chairman of the DSW Housing Committee, and Florian Kurt, responsible for funding advice on housing at NRW.Bank, provided the guests with interesting information on housing funding for student housing and the current framework conditions specifically for student unions. Finally, Berlin architect Tom Geister (Sauerbruch Hutton) presented innovative ideas for communal living in the city center using numerous project examples.