Room for rent?
Severe lack of accommodation for (international) students
The Nuremberg Metropolitan Region is growing, and the three cities of Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen are thriving – the region is an attractive location for students, young researchers and those entering the labor market. However, the lack of suitable accommodation can be a huge obstacle, particularly for international students. FAU President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger, the mayor of Erlangen, Dr. Florian Janik, the mayor of Nuremberg, Marcus König, and the mayor of Fürth, Thomas Jung, have joined together to call on people living in the region.
Their message is that you should rent out any spare rooms you have instead of leaving them to stand empty.
The children have left home, and suddenly your house or your flat is too big. The self-contained apartment is no longer needed for the au-pair. The little house where your aunt used to live has been empty for a while. If any of these scenarios sound familiar, then this unusual appeal is directed at you.
Help us and advertise your empty rooms.
Anyone who would like to rent out a room can advertise on any of the relevant platforms or offer it directly via the Student Service’s accommodation service www.werkswelt.de/privatzimmervermittlung.
I would like more information about offering a room to rent
- Summer semester lecture period: April 17 to July 21, 2023
- Winter semester 2023/24: October 16, 2023 to February 9, 2024
Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger, President of FAU, has been facing a dramatic situation since the beginning of winter semester 2022/23: “The housing market in Erlangen, Nuremberg and Fürth has been under strain for a long time, but this year the situation is particularly dramatic. More than a third of our new students come from abroad. Without any contacts in the region, it is almost impossible for them to find somewhere to stay. We would appreciate any room you can offer.” The situation for students from outside the EU is particularly difficult. Many of them require a visa to enter Germany, but a prerequisite for receiving a visa is that they have already arranged accommodation. “As a university, we want to grow internationally, but to do so we need a functioning accommodation infrastructure for all the talents who are making their way to us.”
Dr. Florian Janik, mayor of the City of Erlangen, draws attention to the difficult situation regarding housing in the Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen region: “The housing market in the region is very strained. Many people were and are prepared to help. They rent rooms out to refugees or students. We hope that this willingness to help continues. Every apartment helps.”
His counterpart from Nuremberg, Marcus König, stresses the valuable opportunities intercultural exchange brings to the cities: “International students are very welcome here. They enrich our society, and their background means that they have valuable knowledge to share with our universities. We would ask you to consider renting out a room and welcoming a student from abroad.”
For Dr. Thomas Jung, mayor of the City of Fürth, the additional money earned from rent is also an argument for welcoming someone into your home. “In Fürth, it is often the case that valuable housing is being left empty. Choosing to rent out rooms is one way for you to generate additional income, at the same time as helping young students.”
The three mayors and the university are keen to stress that their appeal “Zimmer frei?” (room for rent?) is not intended to distract attention away from the situation regarding building new housing in the region. Instead, the appeal is intended to ease the situation in the short term. For König, Janik and Jung, building new, affordable housing is still the number one item on their agenda and one of the major challenges facing them in the coming years. However, building projects are currently taking longer than usual due to a lack of materials and experts.
Joachim Hornegger: “Our students need a place to live now. In the coming semesters, we expect even more international students to come. We would really appreciate it if we could all work together to make the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region an attractive location for science.”
Help for students
Accommodation service of Student Services in Erlangen
Studentenhaus
Langemarckplatz 4
91054 Erlangen
(Office is located next to the main entrance)
Phone +49 9131 8002-58
Opening times
Mon – Thurs: 9 am – 3 pm
Fri – 9am – 2 pm
Or by appointment
Also helpful: Advertising on accommodation websites
Where accommodation is scarce, it can also be helpful if you advertise your spare room or apartment on an accommodation platform.
- You can post an advert on websites and plattforms
- Use Social Media Groups like “Suche/Biete” with the Name of your city
- Tell your friends that you have a room to rent
- Hang notices in supermarkets or cafés
Students from abroad often look online for accommodation and they are often not in the country yet.
Help for refugees
Recognized asylum seekers and refugees urgently require accommodation. After they have received their recognized status, they must move out of government accommodation (shared accommodation facilities) or decentralized accommodation.
The city of Erlangen website has information about how you can inform the city that you have accommodation available.
Notify the authorities directly
You can also notify the Landratsamt Erlangen-Höchststadt (local authorities) if you have any accommodation to rent to refugees.
Accommodation service in Erlangen and Nuremberg
“Housing is one of a person’s basic needs and is one of the most important social issues of our city. It is our aim to create and maintain more housing and make it affordable.” Further information about housing, emergency accommodation and assistance for homeless people from the city of Erlangen
Information for students looking for accommodation:
Get involved in shaping housing policy
Take an active role in shaping policy in Erlangen: Come to the monthly city council meetings, where you are welcome to listen in and take part.
Open city council meetings in Erlangen
Open consultation sessions with Erlangen city council
Public participation in Nuremberg (for example in urban planning)
What’s it all about?
- Students often have difficulties finding accommodation from abroad.
- The situation for students from outside the EU is particularly difficult. Many of them require a visa to enter Germany, but a prerequisite for receiving a visa is that they have already arranged accommodation.
- Students come to FAU from many different countries, for example from India, China or Turkey as well as from EU countries.
- The accommodation team can only provide housing for around a third of the inquiries they receive and it is therefore dependent on additional accommodation.
- Doctoral candidates and researchers also urgently need housing.
- Students have modest requirements and do not need high-end accommodation.
- The accommodation should be reasonably priced and already furnished (table and bed, access to a kitchen and bathroom).
- Temporary accommodation for even just a few months can be helpful, for example, the need for housing is exceptionally high before the winter semester (winter semester: Oct. 16, 2023 – Feb. 9, 2024).
