Foreign researchers struggle to find housing

There are approximately 700 international PhD-students at the university today, a number that increased by 60 per cent from 2003 to 2008. There are also about 350 international researchers. Both figures are expected to increase. The trend is in keeping with NTNU's goals for 2020, which include improving the university’s international ranking by attracting the best minds from abroad.

More to come- but fewer homes

“Everyone who comes to NTNU needs a place to live, no matter where they come from or what department they’re coming to. Many people are able to arrange this on their own, and many departments do a great job of assisting their people. However, we see more and more people are struggling to get into the housing market,” said Kathrine Vangen, who is project manager for International Researcher Support (IRS) at the university.

Housing and following up on NTNU's housing efforts have been among the programme’s major ongoing tasks that will continue throughout 2010. The causes of the housing crunch are complex. One factor is the tightening of regulations for the Student Association (SIT), a non-profit student organization that provides student services, including limited housing. The change resulted in about 80 inquiries to NTNU’s housing services office as PhDs who were formerly living in student housing had to move out beginning in 2008.

“Housing disappeared, while we had a dramatic increase in the number of PhD candidates. That changed the situation radically. The demand is huge,” said Vangen.

Vangen has hung a note on the IRS bulletin board:

“NTNU hires people. People have families and networks. If all of these are good, employees do a good job. That is how NTNU achieves its goals.”

Research at risk

One PhD who has struggled with this problem is a research fellow from an Asian country who came to Norway with his wife and two children. This spring, he has spent a great deal of time and energy looking for housing. The problem has consumed so much of his time that at one point he felt it put his research project in jeopardy. At times, the family has had to live with his supervisor. His lease for one of the SIT housing units expires at the end of June. It is only now, over the last few days, that the NTNU system has been able to find a solution for him.

An African PhD candidate that UA has been in contact with also tells the same story. This family had to move between several temporary situations, and had to be taken in by the student’s supervisor. And there are other examples of supervisors who at times have had to house researchers with families.

Waiting for years

Kathrine Vangen describes a huge demand for the 60 houses that NTNU owns. The university and SINTEF also have access to 86 out of a total of 108 apartments through the Housing Foundation.

“People wait for several years for housing from the foundation,” Vangen said, underscoring the fact that many people who have been in Trondheim a long time are still struggling to get into the housing market.

Last autumn UA also wrote about how the housing situation had gone from bad to worse for foreign researchers at NTNU.

“We have a big challenge. We have to think in a new way. NTNU has to take a comprehensive approach when it comes to housing,” said Vangen.

She also thinks the housing problem for researchers should be considered in the ongoing campus project.

Need 200 homes

A project group that worked last year on a proposal for NTNU’s housing policy stated that the university should have 200 residential units available over the next few years, if the current international expansion continues. The group stressed that good housing for foreign researchers is one factor that NTNU must address if the university is to achieve its vision of becoming internationally outstanding.

“Without adequate housing to offer to researchers, NTNU risks losing skilled employees, and risks delays and postponement of research projects,” the report said.

From bad to worse

The project group also stated that 100 dwellings should be obtained as an immediate measure, either through outright purchase, construction or long-term agreements with landlords. NTNU’s leadership has not followed through with these proposals. According to Lindis Burheim, director of the university’s Property Management Division, the reason for the lack of follow-up was that the project group was mainly charged with refining the purpose for the rental housing that NTNU already owns. This information was used to identify who should be given priority in the allocation of the university’s dwellings.

Part of an international strategy

Burheim received the report in late October last year. It has now been reviewed by Chief Financial Officer Frank Arntsen and Organization Director Trond Singsaas. The university’s leadership says that the 60 residential units that NTNU has for rent are a part of the university's international strategy.

“It has also been decided who should be given priority when it comes to these homes,” Burheim said.

Providing a go-between

There is one overriding challenge, according to everyone who has studied the problem, including the project group, International Researcher Support, and “Boidéer 2010” (Housing Ideas 2010, a report on student housing in Trondheim). The problem? The lack of housing provides tough competition in the private rental market.

“We have asked for clarification on the purpose of the NTNU rental housing and who should have priority in renting this housing. We now have that now. A housing service has been proposed for international housing seekers that would develop a system for NTNU’s housing, as well as a system for finding and providing housing from the private market,” says Burheim.

“But a housing service will not resolve problems, as long as the main challenge is that there are too few homes to distribute?”

“That question is part of a larger problem at hand that we in the Property Management Division can’t address on our own. We have needed to clarify the purpose of housing, while we’ve also needed to put a clearinghouse in place for the private housing market,” says Burheim.

Unlikely to increase housing numbers

The project group's proposal to increase the amount of housing owned by NTNU is beyond the scope of the Property Management Division’s authority. NTNU only has the right to finance the construction or purchase of homes through the sale of property.

The leadership maintains that there is no reason to increase the amount of housing owned by NTNU, and is relying instead on the private market to meet most demands. The university’s housing stock is also periodically reviewed. Homes that have large maintenance requirements may be sold, in preference for acquiring homes that are cheaper to maintain and operate.

“There is also no money for building new homes right now,” Burheim points out.

A tight market

Project Manager Kathrine Vangen welcomes the new measures, which include a separate property portal on the university’s webpages and a housing clearinghouse. “The plan to be more engaged with the private market is good. But it requires more. In practice, many are closed out of this market, the way it is now,” she says.

The market is tight, rents are high, competition is great. Foreigners are competing with students and other Norwegians.

Last in line

“When there are 80 people at one showing, it is rarely the foreigner who draws the long straw,” she observed.

Much of what is offered is also of rather poor quality. Many people move numerous times, often with young children. IRS is in contact with people who have been in Trondheim for two years, and who have not yet entered the market. Vangen is concerned about the continuation of this situation.

“NTNU wants to attract outstanding scientists. But these people need to feel welcome, they need to settle down here. A stable living situation is important for integration. To feel at home, you need a home. It's that simple,” Vangen says.