Students outside their hometown: a UDU study on housing prices, 430 euros for one room including bills.

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The problem of student housing for out-of-town students seems far from solved. On average, a studio room costs 350 euros per month, to which you should add about 80 euros for utilities and bills. Negative records belong to Milan, where on average you have to pay 650 euros a month for a room, followed by Bologna and Rome, where the cost is around 500 euros. These are some of the data revealed in the "Student situation in the country" report presented by the Union of Students (Udu) and based on 20,000 responses collected throughout Italy as part of the "No home, no future" survey conducted with Cgil and Sunia.

The study found that a foreign student pays on average 430 euros for a single room, including all expenses, and that more than 10% of rents are illegal. Udu said the study will be handed over to University and Research Minister Anna Maria Bernini on October 30.

The proposals of the Students' Union

In particular, four proposals will be presented to Minister Bernini: an immediate allocation of 100 million euros for a support fund for non-resident students; intervention in scholarships, no less than 300 million to increase them and ensure they are all suitable; intervention in the tax system and regulation, restricting and discouraging short tourist rentals, ordinary rents and inactivity; a plan for investment in public housing, allocating no less than 3 billion in a multi-year budget and a review of the Pnrr.

In particular, Camille Piredda, National Coordinator of Udu, explained, "In this budget bill, we are asking for an immediate allocation of 100 million for a fund to support non-resident students. But also intervening in scholarships with at least 300 million to increase them and ensure they are all suitable. It is important to intervene in the tax system and regulation by limiting and discouraging short-term tourist rentals, customary rentals and inactivity. "

Piredda added: "The last requirement related to the housing issue is to provide a serious plan for investment in public housing, allocating at least 3 billion in a multi-year budget and reviewing Pnrr. We, along with Cgil and Sunia, have stated that European funding is mostly going towards private housing, which can cost up to a thousand euros a month. We believe that Pnrr should guarantee affordable beds for even the neediest students. We are not giving up on this issue and will demand a report on the government's progress at a meeting with Minister Bernini. "

Expensive rent for university students, survey data

According to the survey, a single room costs €350 on average, and taking into account bills and utilities, the cost is €430; a double room costs €280 on average, about 80% of the cost of a single room, raising alarms about speculation.

Among the findings identified are those relating to how students find accommodation. According to the data obtained, 29% of respondents found accommodation through advertisements on portals, 23% through friends and acquaintances, and 22% through social networks. 60% said they had had great difficulty finding accommodation, and while the cities where it is most difficult to find accommodation are Bergamo, Padua, Bologna, Milan, Naples and Rome, a certain level of difficulty is found throughout Italy.

The main problems that make university students unable to find accommodation are excessive costs (53%), false advertisements (30%) and unacceptable conditions (42%). But unaffordable housing (36%), gender discrimination (13%) and racism (4%) are also among the problems.

Simone Agutoli, responsible for housing at Udu, emphasized: "Very worrying data on rent growth is revealed from the survey.

Agutoli says the result is twofold: "On the one hand, many students refuse to study because of excessive costs, living conditions and lack of solutions. And those who do decide to move in are increasingly leaning towards a double room, with one in four students now living in a double room. A peak of 50% is seen in Venice, followed by Milan, Brescia, Trento and Bologna. 1% even live in a triple room. However, the savings are still minimal, about 20% less than a single room, and 30% of students tell us they are experiencing serious economic hardship to make it to the end of the month because of housing-related costs. "

Added to this is the problem of informal tenancies. On this point, Agutoli said, "About 5.5% of students have no contract, with a negative record in Naples, where one in four surrenders is without contract. Catania, Benevento and Palermo follow with rates above 15%. However, if we also account for partial violations, such as amounts not agreed to, implicitly stated in the contract, we estimate that the national percentage of improper contracts exceeds 10% of the national level. Another troubling fact is discrimination, with 13% of students having difficulty finding housing for gender-related reasons and 4% for racism. "