The future development of student housing in Germany by the example of the city Aachen

This paper is dedicated to the study of student housing using the example of Aachen, Germany's seventh-largest student city with 61,500 students (Statista, 2022). The focus lies on the current satisfaction of students with affordable dormitories. New needs and requests for future development are analyzed. The market for student housing is tense. Between 2002 and 2022, the number of students in Germany increased from 1.9 million to 2.9 million (Destatis, 2022). At the same time, the social infrastructure, especially housing, has not grown with it to the same extent. More and more private investors are entering the market and exploiting the shortage of dwellings with high rents. In addition, current crises such as inflation and rising energy costs mean that students are competing with more and more people in search of affordable housing (Tagesspiegel, 2022). Especially in inner cities, where universities are often located in close proximity, this leads to a massive increase in rents. But it is not only in Germany that the number of students is rising and the housing shortage is increasing. Across the EU, the number of first-year students increased by 8.8 percent from 2013 to 2020. (Eurostat, 2020). The high rents mean that the free choice of where to study is no longer guaranteed and thus academic freedom is at risk (Tagesspiegel, 2023). Funding for student housing is required to take the pressure off the housing market and to enable different groups of students from different social backgrounds to continue studying. To promote and open the housing market for a wide range of students, more publicly funded housing for students must be provided in the coming years. As part of the study, a quantitative survey was therefore conducted in the 22 publicly funded dormitories in Aachen on the requirements for living in a dormitory and future needs. A total of over 1,200 students took part in the 10-minute online survey. It will be found that especially after the COVID pandemic, dormitories are still a popular form of housing for students due to the large community. The survey also shows that the location requests of students are highly comparable to other housing seekers on the open market. However, few students are currently able to afford housing on the open housing market with the financial resources available to them. Although community plays an important role in students' lives, living arrangements for one to two people with their own bathroom and partial furniture are preferred. Shared rooms such as kitchens and study rooms should be available as well as sufficient storage space. Furthermore, it is apparent that, especially for students, sustainability also plays an essential role in the construction and operation of the dormitory. For further real estate developments in the future, it needs to be clarified how these specifications and requirements can be implemented in publicly funded dormitories in the future and what steps need to be taken to promote student housing. It also is necessary to determine how sustainability and the resulting higher investment costs can be realized and what the role of the public sector and private investors is in the development. The paper gives first insights into the conducted investigation and context of the results and opens further discussion with other scientists on public housing.