Students worst hit as Germany's housing crisis deepens

A worsening housing crisis in Germany has left tens of thousands of students without reasonably priced long-term accommodation, or even space in dorms, according to student associations.

One group, in the central German city of Gottingen, has rented a hotel, so students can stay there at subsidized rates in the short term.

Matthias Anbuhl, head of German National Association for Student Affairs, or DSW, said the lack of accommodation, especially in big cities, is a "deplorable state of affairs" that has been getting worse for decades.

DSW manages about 1,700 dormitories across Germany that have a total of about 200,000 beds, he said, but the dorms are full, and about 32,000 students are on the waiting list, the Deutsche Welle news agency reported.

Many students are "couchsurfing" at friends' places, or undertaking long commutes from places where accommodation is available, Anbuhl said.

Earlier this year, a study by the Eduard Pestel Research Institute in the German city of Hanover said Germany needs around 700,000 additional apartments to meet the demand. Rents have risen as a result, as people compete for somewhere to stay, the institute said.

In the southern German city of Munich, the situation is so bad — landlords are charging students an average of $760 a month for a bed. The German government's federal student loans and grants program offers up to $381 toward rents, leaving students with a lot to make up.

Jana Judisch, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Student Association, told Deutsche Welle the association has space for 9,000 students but all beds are taken, and that 4,900 people are on a waiting list.

"Many students are moving out to the far edges of the city and even beyond that, into Brandenburg, and accepting the long commute," she said.

Germany has around 2.9 million students, which is 1 million more than it had 15 years ago. Student advocates said the government must keep up with the change by investing in infrastructure and providing larger subsidies toward rent.

Despite the country's growing population, the number of building permits issued has been tumbling year-on-year, exacerbating the housing crisis, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.

Government figures released this month show the 19,300 permits issued to build new apartments in Germany in August was down 31.6 percent as against the corresponding month last year. And the total number of permits issued in the first eight months was down 28.3 percent from the previous year.