Norway’s education ministry announced that it will soon break ground for construction of 2,188 new student housing units, to be built in 14 Norwegian cities. The goal is to be able to offer housing to at least 20 percent of the country’s college and university students.
“More student housing ensures a reasonable and predictable offer of accommodation for students,” stated the government minister in charge of higher education and research, Iselin Nybø of the Liberal Party. “It’s also an important addition to the private housing market.”
Student housing was available to only around 15 percent of the country’s college and university students as of this summer. Construction of new student housing has reduced waiting lists by 1,720, according to a survey by the Norwegian Student Organization (NSO), but the lists still contain 10,612 names. Nybø admitted that the housing waiting lists remained “too long.”
“The need for more student housing is still very strong,” Håkon Randgaard Mikalsen, leader of NSO, told news bureau NTB. “If the government and Parliament continue to increase the numbers of student placements, they also need to build more housing in the coming years.”
newsinenglish.no staff
