The most lagging students face their most important career: to find accommodation for the new academic year. The room rental was, until recently, one of the most demanded options, but prices have climbed so much that it is unfeasible for many university students. The average rental of a shared floor in Spain is around 520 euros per month, according to Fotocasa. That is why many have directed their eyes towards the residences of students, although there is also a but. Demand is superior to supply and prices are not affordable. A problem for the 200,000 students displaced from other provinces and, above all, for their families, which are those that usually pay for accommodations. To this suffocating scenario is now added the digital reserve, which advances and tensioning the demand. «The student no longer needs to visit the residence to complete his registration. The virtual tour, the testimonies of former students and the web are consolidated as the main decision channels,» according to the latest annual survey of resa satisfaction, the largest student residences operator. The private residences business is mostly dominated by investment funds. The most demanded places, Madrid and Barcelona, which concentrate 36% of the residences, offer beds for more than 1,500 euros per month, the most expensive. Approveing the university access test (PAU) thus becomes the beginning of a real estate calvary that will affect many of the 1.7 million graduate students. Of these, 18.3% will make the suitcase to study in a community other than their own and 31.4% will have to change the province within their community, according to a study by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Universities. That if they find the room that fits your pocket. Spain has 975 residences and 103,862 places, according to data from the DBK Sector Observatory. By 2026 this offer will be increased by 8.4%, which will add 135,000 beds. The sector is concentrated in four large groups: Resa (from the Dutchm PGGM Pension Fund), with 12,000 beds and 45 residences; Micampus (from Stoneshield), with 43 residences and about 10,000 beds; Livensa Living (from Brookfield-Temprano Capital), with 23 establishments and 9,000 beds (6,000 in Spain and 3,000 in Portugal), and the American operator Yugo, with 23 centers and a forecast of 9,700 beds at the end of the year. Although its price varies according to the city and the type of room, the large operators encrypt their price around 500 euros per month if it is a shared room while an individual is easy to exceed 900 euros. Among the most exclusive options, Nodis is positioned in Madrid with rates from 710 euros to 1,200 euros. Other more affordable options of different platforms and in cities such as Granada or Salamanca maintain prices from 450 euros.Room of the Sants Badal Barcelona residence, of Livensa Living. A rates that «strangle the economy of many families,» says the president of the Social Council Conference of Spanish Universities, Antonio Abril Abadín. It describes as «very serious» this mismatch between demand and supply that is settled with high prices. And alludes to the «responsibility of the university to facilitate access to a dignified housing or residence at an affordable price.» To do this, it appeals to the public-private collaboration with a “hybrid model, where the private company builds and manages the accommodation and the administration run with subsidized expenses without its cost affecting the student. This help should be granted based on its merits and economic capacity”.
High occupation
Just take a look at the websites of these platforms to verify that at this point there are already a large number of rooms with the selling or last seats. In Livensa Living they foresee for this year an occupation level «above 90%, similar to the past year.» With a customer profile «70% national and the rest, international», according to the company. «There are students waiting to September to book, after an unsuccessful search for other options as a shared floor.» And a greater loyalty of the client stands out: «The student who remains in residence two or more years is above 40%.» From Yugo confirm that the squares are exhausted in four of their seven residences located in Madrid. Its full pension price is 2,125 in individual room; 2,293 in an upper individual, and 1,407 double. And in Micampus there is already a sign that warns that the last places are left. This situation makes Spain the object of desire of the large international university residential groups and have it in their expansion projects. This is the case of Belgian real estate Besix, which together with the multinational promiris have recently announced the launch of 2,000 rooms in the Iberian Peninsula. Also the Livensa Living group has just opened a new residence in Barcelona, Sants Badal, with 538 beds at a price of 500 euros the shared double room, and from 900 to 1.016 the individual. For its part, Resa plans in its strategic plan 2025-2029 Invest 200 million euros, which will add an offer of at least 3,000 places. The residences, many of which offer luxury hotels services, quote upwards according to their location. Something that has become the priority of its guests (74%), according to the Resa survey, followed by the type of room (43%) and the value for money (32%).
