Student housing in 2022

Waiting list

The housing shortage in Berlin has continued to worsen.
This was also evident in the dormitories studierendenWERKs noticeable. The waiting list was also long in 2022. As of December 1, 2022, there were a total of
3.080 students without care (2021: 2.889). Another 2.001 people were also on the waiting list but wanted to move in later than December 1, 2022 (2021: 1.710). The waiting times have increased significantly and amounted to at least three semesters in 2022.

The InfoCenter Wohnen, which began its work in 2018 to support students, among other things, in their search for housing on the free housing market, was even more frequented in 2022 and carried out a total of 53.665 consultations, of which 36.636 were in writing, 11.661 by telephone and 5.372 in person (2021: a total of 36.012 consultations).
 

Quota places

The number of quota places remained unchanged compared to previous years. All quota places were taken up by the universities. Due to the renovation of a dormitory, 66 places were removed from the dormitory Eichkamp mostly in the dormitory Franz-Mehring-Platz as well as in the dormitories Sewanstraße and Coppistraße accommodated.

New construction projects

In 2022, the planning of the new building was carried out in particular Aristotelessteig pushed forward - if implemented, 176 new places could be created here. The previous cost estimate (as of December 2018) had to be adjusted several times throughout the year. The implementation is now estimated at 19,76 million euros instead of the previous 14,4 million. Although the project has gone through essential plan approval steps, due to the massive increase in expected costs, the Senate Administration had to be informed at the end of the year that the implementation of the project would be possible without significant subsidies (e.g. from the funds of the federal government's newly launched student support program Housing) cannot be implemented at affordable rents for students. We will have to work together with the country to find a common solution in the coming year.

Impact of the energy crisis on rents

The energy crisis triggered by Russian aggression against Ukraine has had a particular impact on student housing. Electricity and heat for the dormitories studierendenWERKs BERLIN are obtained from the Energy Industry Office of the State of Berlin (EWS). Over the course of the year, the EWS revised its price forecast for 2023 upwards several times and finally announced price increases for all media, for example for gas by more than 400 percent.

Since the studierendenWERK Flat-rate rents, which cannot be adjusted during the current contract periods, were agreed upon. The forecasts for 2023 were responded to in the fall and rent increases for new and follow-up contracts were agreed - initially in September 2022, then - after further corrections to the forecasts by the EWS - in November 2022. The range of increases per dorm was ultimately between 15 and 110 euros per house.

The fact that these were forecasts for 2023 helped studierendenWERK through a discount for the remaining months of the 2022 invoice. That happened on November 14th studierendenWERK invited to the Science Committee of the House of Representatives to describe the situation.

During the hearing, the student representatives present vehemently asked for the rent increases to be reversed. In fact, in the run-up to the repeat elections in February 2023, the Senate administration announced that the additional costs incurred by the tenants of the dormitories due to the energy crisis would be fully subsidized by funds from the supplementary budget.

However, the implementation of this promise, referred to in the media as a “rent freeze”, is linked to numerous conditions, including proof of reduction in energy consumption, and will therefore only be possible in 2023 after a thorough review by the Senate Department of Finance.

On the way to agile working

The department initiated a reorganization process in 2021, which led to a reallocation of tasks and, as a result, to a reallocation of the previous dormitory administration and InfoCenter teams. The main aim was to make the work of the Student Housing Department more agile and thus optimize the service for students. This process was pushed forward intensively in 2022. The new teams gradually found their way into their new roles and interfaces. Team and cultural development was supported externally. This process is scheduled to continue in 2023.