Finding My New Room

My new room has a map, which still has the USSR on it. Putin loves this map.

As I said in a previous post, there exists a housing crisis in Leiden. The price and availability of rooms for students, especially international students, is dreadful, and the services provided less than adequate. A total revitalization of the housing program is direly needed. Here is how my month-long search went.

I returned from the Christmas holidays, which I spent in Canada with my family and girl of my dreams, only to find I had to vacate my dwelling. I had a friend who was willing to let me sleep on their couch while I struggled to find a place. Thus I began my search.

Having done the house hunt many times before I thought this would be a breeze. I soon found out that the prices were grossly inflated for shabby living conditions. Sure there were paces with four walls, a floor, and a stinky old couch but I need more than that if I'm going to live there for 400 Euros.

To exacerbate the problem, the Dutch students looking for a new roommate will choose another Dutch person before they choose you. The fault usually lies in your inability to communicate in their language. This made it particularly hard to find a reasonable place to live.

For me, the most unusual thing they have here is the hospiteeravond which is where a house will invite all the applicants who wish to live there to a kind of small party with drinks and chips. Everyone has a few chances to talk about themselves, to impress the house, and at the end they vote who stays. Usually the questions consisted of "What's the drunkest you've ever been?", or "How often would you be able to hang out with us?". It did seem pretty childish, and compounded with the fact that no one would speak English, I was lost as all the other applicants were Dutch. I stopped trying with those, as it was a big waste of my time, and not where I wanted to live.

Sorry to my Dutch friends, you are very nice, but there are quite a few obnoxious apples in your population. Finding a normal room meant you likely would have to go through an agency. This meant paying a month's worth rent to the agency before signing the contract! It was so ridiculous to me, coming from Toronto where you simply look on Craigslist, or Kijiji, or Padmapper to find a room! I lost heart after sending 100 emails and receiving only two replies who would take an non-Dutchman. Luckily one of those place said I could have the place and after a little more than a month of searching I found this room. 300 Euros a month, give or take a few, and it's cozy too boot. My result may not be the norm, as I relied on luck to find me this room. Take heart knowing you are not alone in the house hunt.

Student Housing Prices Rock Poverty Line

Recession rocks the student economy in Leiden as rent rises far above the poverty line! You can read all about it on the student forums of social media. The Leiden Housing Facebook group is a place where people go to look for solace and comfort, as they try to find a new place to live. People can post places they have to rent, and expect a blizzard of replies, as the homeless grapple with each other for the new place on the market.

The reasons people find themselves homeless are diverse, however a reoccurring cause is the student housing company DUOW. This two company has formed a cartel, strong-arming the price of rent into an unaffordable regime. The university is an implicit player, as they supply DUOW a steady stream of international students who have no idea what they are getting into.

The horror stories abound, and I found myself in one upon arrival. The place I was given was the cheapest available of their offerings, located in a boggy swamp, and far from the city centre. As you will see in my other posts, the place was full of filth and squalor, dominated by mosquitoes, and in disrepair. The company spent no effort on maintaining the building, allowed the internet to go down for weeks at a time during exam period, and charged outrageous prices to the students crammed into each hovel. While being the cheapest offering, it was still 340 Euros ($520 CAD). For comparison in Toronto, one of the most expensive places to live, I paid $460 CAD to live in the downtown. Many students here are paying over 600 Euros per month simply for a place to rest their head at night!

Suspect in the cause of such high prices is the ill-founded belief that international students have more money. This myth has long since been debunked, and in fact international students are simply poor students just like everyone else, in search of an education.

I myself faced this challenge, read about it in a following post.