Desperately seeking digs

Students were forced to camp out because of the shortage of accommodation in Lausanne. AJLF

A chronic housing shortage in Geneva and Lausanne is having a particularly big impact on students.

Hundreds could find themselves without a roof over their head when the new academic year starts in October.

University officials in both cities, however, say it is still too early to say precisely how many students will be homeless come the start of term in October. All, though, agree that the situation is as critical as it has ever been.

“I fear that there will be much greater problems this year than there have been in previous years,” says Françoise Demierre, head of Geneva University’s accommodation service.

While many university residences stopped accepting applications last month, the stream of new arrivals – often from abroad – continues unabated.

Rooms to let

In international cities like Geneva and Lausanne – both home to international organisations and multinationals – such housing shortages are nothing new, and all sections of society have been affected. But given their often limited means and their increasing numbers, students have much less room for manoeuvre.

Both universities are committed to creating more student housing, but this will not happen overnight. Geneva has 2,000 places in its residences for 13,500 students, while Lausanne has just 1,000 for 15,000.

In the meantime, academic institutions are having to advertise for people to sub-let rooms to students in their private homes.

“Every year it gets worse. We now need 500 more rooms, and every day, we are receiving dozens more requests,” says Gilberte Isler, head of socio-cultural affairs for both the University of Lausanne and the Federal Institute of Technology in the city.

“We have stepped up our advertising in the local press. We need people with a room to let to contact us,” she told swissinfo.

“We are looking for people who live alone, who do not occupy all the rooms in their apartment, to welcome students into their home for the duration of a school year,” says Jean-Jacques Monney, director of the Geneva campus.

But it is still unlikely that enough accommodation will materialise.

Camping protest

In Lausanne, several students were forced last year to live for several months on a campsite. Some Geneva students opt to live in neighbouring France, even though it has not been spared by the housing crisis. Increasingly, students in both cities are moving into squats.

In Lausanne, where just 0.2 per cent of accommodation is vacant, a group of nearly 70 homeless students in Lausanne have been camping outside the municipal courthouse to protest about the situation.

They want to occupy buildings that are lying empty – often awaiting renovation – not as squatters, but on the basis of “trust contracts”, whereby they would agree to leave the premises if asked to do so by the landlord.

Such agreements will only ever be a temporary solution, but they could serve to take some of the pressure off of the housing market.

“What we can’t accept is that empty houses remain unoccupied,” says Igor Kunetka, president of the ALJF, the association carrying out the action. To highlight their plight, members of the association have even started working on the gardens that surround the buildings into which they would like to move.

Their campaign is backed by the city authorities: “These young people are not squatters. They just want somewhere to live,” says Oscar Tosato, the municipal official in charge of education. “It’s indecent that buildings lie empty when our citizens have nowhere to live.”

Unfortunately the city council cannot help – all the accommodation it owns is full. But the student-campers believe the cantonal government has a role to play.

“They have bought land to build housing for students, but that has not happened yet,” Isabelle Vuong, a member of the ALJF told swissinfo. “It’s a question of political will.”

Students who find themselves with no fixed abode in October will be forced into making difficult choices: “What would you do if you found yourself in Geneva without accommodation? They will have to manage as best they can – or give up their studies in our town,” Demierre says.

by Roy Probert

Key facts

Lausanne has 1,000 places in its residences for 15,000 students.
Geneva has 2,000 places for 13,500 students.
Universities are hoping that locals will sub-let rooms to students.