Housing chaos in Copenhagen puts students in hostels

The desperate Copenhagen housing situation has both Danish and international students living temporarily in youth hostels and even camping sites, reports Danish media Politiken.dk. Around sixty international students are now living in hostels like the Danhostel Copenhagen City and Danhostel Bellahøj.

As reported on University Post, the influx of international, and Danish, students to Copenhagen, particularly in September, makes for housing chaos, and frustration for new students.

See our continuning coverage of Copenhagen’s housing crisis here.

At least one international student went home to Mexico in desperation, according to the Danish paper: »It was a young guy from Mexico, who had gained entrance to start his dream study programme. But after living here for weeks, he just got desperate and went home,« says head of the hostel Danhostel Bellahøj Angela Wiedemann.

City of Copenhagen misleading internationals

Chairman of the University of Copenhagen’s student council, Bjarke Lindemann Jepsen, pins his hopes on the Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen. He should sit down with the responsible government ministers and find a solution, he argues.

»The city of Copenhagen is misleading international students by pretending to be an international place of study. It is not doing enough to ensure that [international students] have a place to live,« he says.

Mayor Frank Jensen wrote an op ed piece to Politiken last week, where he argued that the City was working with the private sector to set up 2,000 new homes for students.

universitypost@adm.ku.dk

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