Student council launches couch surf housing service

A new couch surf initiative from the University of Copenhagen’s student council is to help students through the housing bottleneck.

As the number of students at the University of Copenhagen and other education institutions in the city increases, the harder it is for students to find a place to live, the student council argues.

»It has been estimated that 30,000 young people will be moving to Copenhagen over the next decade. And UCPH has a record amount of students starting this year – as is the case for all Danish universities. Furthermore, we have an ever increasing amount of international students, and we haven’t built any new student accommodation since 1995,« says the Head of the Student Council Bjarke Lindemann Jepsen in a press release about the campaign.

Help or get helped

»For this reason, the couch surfing campaign is but a part of a larger campaign to highlight the need for more, affordable student accommodation, to the municipality, estate agents and private financiers.«

Copenhagen is infamous for its dismal housing offer to incoming students, Danish and international, as reported on UniversityPost.dk, for example here and here.

On the Student Council website, you can now pledge your own couch to the cause, and help out a fellow student, or apply to crash on one yourself. The idea is that older students can help out the new.

Allows time for a search

Bjarke Lindemann Jepsen is aware that a ‘couch-landlord’ will not be able to house a new student for long periods of time.

»We’re talking last-minute arrangements, and no-one is obligated to have anyone staying for more than two weeks. This gives new students a bit of time to come to Copenhagen and look for a permanent place to stay,« he says.

If you wish to sign your own sofa up, or if you are in desperate need of a place to stay, check out the Student Couch Surfing Service website.

line.hjorth@adm.ku.dk

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