Students forced to squat in Holland

First-year students are resorting to squatting in empty buildings in Amsterdam, as the housing situation in the Dutch capital becomes increasingly desperate.

Ten thousand new students arrive every year and begin the process of finding somewhere to live. Most register with one of several non-commercial accommodation bureaux. But these agencies are increasingly unable to help the young people who come to them in the hope of being allocated a room through their daily lottery.

"We get hundreds of students coming in from Monday to Friday and we only get two new rooms in per day," said Mark van der Lek of the ASVA bureau.

The time it takes to find lodgings in Amsterdam has increased to between one and three years, making life extremely difficult for those whose parents cannot afford to buy them an apartment. The alternatives are to commute or to go elsewhere to study.

Most students in the Netherlands have to find their own accommodation as only two Dutch universities have halls of residence. There is also a nation-wide housing shortage. With many students still choosing to study in Amsterdam, the pressure on the housing market is becoming intolerable.

Third-year medical student Mark van den Tempel's situation is typical. After living with a friend's parents for the first two years of his course, he had to move out when the flat was sold earlier this year. After a difficult period, he finally found a room in a flat illegally sublet by an Iraqi refugee.

"I got lucky. There were 25 people looking and for some reason he picked me. It was like winning the lottery," Mark said. Despite paying more for his room than the tenant pays for the whole apartment, he feels relieved to have found a place to live.

"I was pretty stressed. My studies did suffer for a bit, and I think they do with a lot of people."

The student accommodation bureaux have been trying to get the city council to do something to ease the housing shortage. So far, their efforts have been unsucces-sful.

"There is no new accommodation being built for young people," said Christien Kop of Amsterdams Steunpunt Wonen (ASW), an accommodation-finding and advice centre. "What there is is very expensive."

She claims that a large number of buildings are left empty for years at a time. The ASW wants the council to renovate them and let them to students. Meanwhile, many students have squatted in empty office blocks, converting them into their own alternative halls of residence. Many more see squatting as their only option.

While not encouraging this practice, the housing agencies are sympathetic. Two weeks ago they staged a protest outside a well-known squat in the city and gave advice on how to go about occupying an empty building.

Ms Kop, who organised the protest, said: "Many young people say they're just going to go ahead and squat, but there are an awful lot of things that they need to be aware of before they do it."

The housing organisations plan further action over the coming weeks. Helped by a group of professional squatters, they intend to move a group of students into an empty building in Amsterdam.

As long as they observe certain procedures, squatters are well protected by Dutch law. The hope is that by generating public and media attention the council will be forced to take action.