Emergency housing extended

Many students are still looking for a room

Emergency housing at Metaallaan extended

Homeless students sleeping at the Metaallaan emergency housing can stay two more weeks. While the emergency housing facility was supposed to close on October 1, too many students still haven’t found a permanent housing solution.
By Edward Szekeres
2 October om 11:03 uur.
Laatst gewijzigd op 22 November 2020
om 16:17 uur.
October 2 at 11:03 AM.
Last modified on November 22, 2020
at 16:17 PM.

Including residents of emergency facilities Esdoornflat and The Village, close to two hundred students still haven’t found a permanent place to live. The former school building at the Metaallaan was scheduled to close on Tuesday, but the deadline has been extended to October 15 to give the twenty-eight students who still haven’t found a permanent room more time.

As of Tuesday, October 1, 118 students still lived in the Esdoornflat emergency housing, with only two empty rooms available. There was more space at the Peizerweg facility The Village, with 37 of the eighty beds occupied. At the former school on Metaallaan, twenty-eight beds out of a hundred were taken.

No permanent housing

According to Manon Hoiting, a spokesperson for the municipality, fifty students residing at the Esdoornflat haven’t found permanent housing yet. The Esdoornflat will close on October 9 and those who by then haven’t found another place to move to, are likely to move to either the Metaallaan or The Village.

With Metaallaan expected to close in less than two weeks and Peizerweg shutting its doors on October 26, many students might still find themselves homeless at the end of the month. And further extensions are not likely, according to the municipality. The Peizerweg facility will be turned into an exam hall at the end of the month.

Renovation

The Esdoornflat is bound for renovation. Works on the building are expected to last at least 1,5 years. ‘There are strict schedules to follow that we don’t have much control over. But in the long term, we want to increase the quality of living and not just the capacity. The Esdoornflat will be a better place to live in after the renovations’, explains Monique Louwes from SSH, the company that houses students in the building.

Officials remain confident that the emergency housing plan will permanently house all students by the end of October. The Peizerweg unit will be the last one open after 15 October. ‘We will be ready when the students come’, said location manager Ronald Helmig.

The municipality is also actively helping the students with information about housing and available rooms. ‘For example, when rooms are available, the SSH offers them first tot the students in the emergency housing’, said Manon Hoiting.

Team up

But response to these offers has been surprisingly moderate, according to SSH. Some students team up to find larger apartments together as they get to know each other at the emergency facilities. At the Peizerweg, where students sleep in one large hall, around forty-five people already found a place to stay, according to Ronald Helmig.

Others simply enjoy the private rooms at the Esdoornflat or the rather quirky ambiance at the Metaallaan. Students are staying too long, and it’s becoming a problem. ‘We are becoming victims of our own success’, added the receptionist at Metaallaan.    

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