Accommodation as a barrier to access to studies: "There are people who have to join the army to study"

In August, the Dutch fund PGGM closed the purchase of RESA, which is, by volume, the most important company in the student residence sector in Spain, with 40 centers and 11,000 beds in 21 cities.

According to the latest report on the current state of the student residence market by the company Atlas Real Estate Analytics, there are 94,412 operational beds in Spain, although this calculation also includes halls of residence and public and religious residences.

It is getting more and more difficult to access them.

Andrea Maceiras

and

study a VET in Vigo and perfectly illustrate this problem.

The first, 23, is from Cee and, after living with a relative for a while, she now shares a flat with several students.

The residences, she explains, were never an option, since a room costs up to 800 euros a month, double the budget she has for accommodation.

The second, 22 and a native of Vigo, returned home after starting to study Genetics in Madrid: when her grades dropped and she lost her scholarship,

.

"This year I was very lucky with the flat, but I have many colleagues who haven't," admits Maceiras.

After being with his aunt, he looked for a flat - "they were very expensive and small," he recalls - and ended up staying at some acquaintances, who adjusted the rent to his budget.

"The option of residence, right now, unless you have a much higher economic level,

," he explains.

"If it's already hard for us to find a small student flat worth less than 300 or 400 euros, a residence is worth twice as much and in the end it's still a shared room with a shared kitchen," he sums up.

Those who, like the student, cannot afford it are at the mercy of the rental market.

"The matter of going away is a bit complicated, really."

Andrea Maceiras, a student from Vigo with many problems finding a flat.ROSA GONZALEZMUNDO

Rodriguez agrees with her.

She gives the example of her brother, who pays

- he has three other companions who pay the same - who before moving "was shit."

She also remembers that before going to Madrid she looked for a flat and found nothing in her University area for less than 1,000 euros.

"Paying that for a cubbyhole seems unnecessary to me," she argues.

Thus, the first year she opted for a residence in which a single room with a bathroom cost 950 euros per month.

She shared the kitchen with 15 other people.

For her second year she found a study of 750 euros.

"

," she recalls.

Then the pandemic came.

In order not to lose the bail, she had to stay in Madrid.

Both believe that the situation closes the doors of studies to those who no longer live in a city that offers them.

"

" concedes Rodríguez.

"I had a note and, apart from that, an economic mattress, so I was weathering it, but there are people in my circumstance who had to go into the army to study what they wanted or directly resign," he details.

"It's sad: it's people who have a vocation, who really want to study it and because of the circumstances, because of their economy, they can't."

Offer of beds

In Madrid, the demand for PBSA beds -

, the term that encompasses accommodation for students - is

.

No city among the ten with the highest demand falls below 12,000 beds (Barcelona, ​​the second, exceeds 74,000).

However, the city that can offer the most beds -again, Madrid- only has 19,215 available and only Barcelona (13,317) has more than 10,000.

The problem is national because it depends on the trend followed by another that is also present throughout the national territory:

problem .

The limited supply makes prices rise and, in fact, there are also flat owners who prefer to sell them or look for another type of rental.

"Indeed, it is a problem and it is a growing problem," acknowledges

, co-founder and COO of Atlas.

"You look at it from the side of the market that you look at it, it is very difficult for a student to find housing," he continues.

"In large cities

", illustrates the co-founder of the firm.

In the case of rentals, the offer of shared flats "is falling dramatically in the market", because now they are offered completely or put up for sale.

"Sharing a flat is getting more and more difficult and more and more expensive," he sums up.

This is what made Marta Rodríguez leave her studies in Madrid and return to Vigo, to her parents' house.

"It lowered my average and I couldn't continue studying, precisely because of economic issues: if apart from the flat I had to pay for the studies, I couldn't afford it anymore," she explains.

Now, at least, she has more peace of mind, despite the fact that the time she spends studying prevents her from finding a stable job.

"I go from job to job and shoot because she touches me," she illustrates.

"If I had to pay for a flat now I'd be pretty screwed, really;

."

The data corroborates it.

Renting a flat is financially unaffordable in half of the provinces.

Even more so with low or sporadic income.

According to the index of the HousingAnywhere rental platform, Madrid is still far from the prices reached by the most expensive cities in Europe -its classification, in any case, does not take into account the average income-, but it marks considerably high figures.

Thus, the average apartment costs 1,280 euros per month;

a studio, 850 and a single room, 545.

Another obstacle for students who move is that the alternative, the residences, is no longer for many due to its high price.

But, precisely, this high monthly payment attracts funds that see the profitability of hosting those who can afford a 'rent' that is

.

"We have the advantage that there is more and more supply and there is more and more quality supply because there are funds and institutions behind it, but it is also true that the prices of these residences are high and they are not always available to all students" , highlights Daniel Bermúdez.

Especially in the city with the most students, Madrid.

The ten most expensive residences in all of Spain are in the capital, which is also the city with the most expensive average price for these accommodations:

.

Moreover, the next three cities in this ranking -Villaviciosa de Odón (1,076 euros), Pozuelo de Alarcón (998 euros) and Villanueva de la Cañada (990 euros)- could be considered Madrid 'bedrooms'.

Also the eighth, Leganés (909 euros).

Barcelona, ​​with an average price of 931 euros, sneaks into the top five.

The health crisis served, in a way, as a catalyst for this situation.

A year of largely telematic study lowered attendance and rents, so the funds were

, which became what Atlas describes as the modern standard: "state-of-the-art residences, built or refurbished recently following the criteria of design, service and facilities demanded by the young university public.This is the most widespread option, with 40,425 beds, 42.81% of the total operational offer.Between 2021 and 2021 it grew by 26.41% .

"There were many residences that were very outdated that have been the result of transactions and have become what we call the modern standard," confirms Bermúdez.

With the halls of residence also with high prices and a sector in which, apart from public options, "the percentage of affordable residences is nil", the student accommodation market has gone from being an alternative to something consolidated.

It also has the particularity that the location is very important, which is something that the residences that are being bought had, despite the fact that they did not offer quality rooms.

Hence the movements of the pandemic months: "They are being acquired to completely reform them because we have the great problem of the entire sector, that there is no land and new developments are not possible."

"

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