The study begins, and with this for many freshmen a new life in a new city. But tens of thousands of young people can not look forward to these days because: They have not found a room yet.

The dormitories of the German Student Union (DSW) report on a rush, as it has never been before. In twelve university cities alone, there are still 30,000 students on the waiting lists for dormitories, showing previously unpublished figures of the DSW, which are available to SPIEGEL.

In order to get on these waiting lists, interested parties must prove that they are enrolled at the respective university. Multiple applications are usually excluded. Although students are also on the lists, who actually prefer to move into a shared flat or a private apartment. Nevertheless, the figures are an indication of how tight the housing market is.

The situation is most dramatic in Munich. More than 11,200 students are currently waiting for a room in the dorm - and the numbers are still rising. "The Isar metropolis is a hotspot in the negative sense," says Achim Meyer at Heyde, Secretary General of the German Student Union. "Finding something cheap here is almost impossible for students."

The data of the student union coincide with the results of a study published on Monday, according to which students have to pay the highest rents in the nationwide comparison on the Munich housing market.

So many students were on 8 October 2018 on the dorm waiting lists of selected university cities:

  • Munich: 11,235 students
  • Stuttgart: 4000
  • Hannover: 2250
  • Darmstadt: more than 2000
  • Cologne: 2000
  • Göttingen: 1894
  • Hamburg: 1672
  • Pouring: 1500
  • Kassel: 900
  • Augsburg: 700
  • Kiel: 600 (whole Schleswig-Holstein: 1300)
  • Potsdam: 72

However, this is only an intermediate status, because there are still new requests for rooms at the Studentenwerke, according to the DSW. In part, places with a numerus-clausus restriction have been allocated only in the past few days, so that the interested parties can only now report.

100 Euro "Einzugssprämie" - how landlords exploit the desperation

Like Johanna. For the high school graduate from North Rhine-Westphalia, the allocation of places was a shivering: at the beginning of June, she had applied for a medical study place, only a few days ago came the promise of the University of Regensburg. She went in search of a room - whether in the dorm or in private she does not care: "The main thing, I can start this week with my events and do not have to stay in a hostel or youth hostel," says the 18-year-old.

Johanna arranged two viewing appointments for shared rooms. "But even at the first visit, the shock came: I should pay 100 euros 'Einzugssprämie', cash and no receipt to get the room." The customer review has been automatically translated from German. Since Tuesday, the budding medical student is back in Bavaria - where she will live the first few days, she still does not know.

For such cases, several Studentenwerke have already established emergency shelters, for example in Kassel and Munich. "Other cities will follow," forecasts DSW spokesman Stefan Grob. The Studentenwerk Göttingen had already rented 25 double rooms as a precaution in a university-close hotel. Since the beginning of October, students can find accommodation here for five euros per night, so they can start at least once a semester and search locally for a regular room.

Anna enrolled in Göttingen for French and Philosophy. For weeks, she has been looking for a room in vain: "For 14 square meters you pay sometimes over 300 euros," says the 19-year-old. The overnight stay in the hotel double room was not a perfect solution, "but at least I can start studying now". The Studierendenwerk Stuttgart also offers hotel rooms at special rates.

Bafög package is not enough

"It borders on policy failures, if additional study places are a common priority of federation and countries, but additional dormitories should be left solely in the responsibility of the partially damp federal states or the market," criticizes Achim Meyer at the Heyde. He calls for at least 25,000 additional dormitories nationwide - and an increase in the Bafög package for the rent.

The currently is 250 euros so low that students - especially in larger and therefore more expensive university cities - hardly get there. Even on a nationwide average, junior academics spend 323 euros and thus more than a third of their total budget for the rent. In Munich or Berlin, Cologne or Hamburg, however, the housing costs are significantly higher, and for many students this makes funding even more difficult.

Meanwhile, companies are trying to capitalize on student housing shortages. A Berlin start-up is currently giving away a one-week stay "in downtown Berlin for the first week of the week" - in a caravan.

The housing shortage at the beginning of the semester is by no means only a German problem. For example, the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, has been heavily promoting foreign students in recent years - and is now having trouble finding prospects. Judith Parra is one of the victims. And now she is glad that she has now been assigned a 20 square meter container as an apartment.

The rental price: 500 euros per month.