‘The Issue of Student Housing Can Be Considered Resolved at HSE University’
HSE University experts took part in ‘Rental Housing—Development Opportunities’, a session at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia. They discussed how to create a transparent rental housing market and talked about the system of rental housing for HSE students.
A place to live as a factor for attracting talent
The development of the Far East of Russia requires an influx of talented professionals from other regions of the country. This is impossible without a modern rental market, including corporate housing for employees, private housing for those who can afford to rent an appartment on market terms, social housing for low-income groups, and student housing for students. This was discussed at the session ‘Rental Housing—Development Opportunities’.
However, currently the rental market in Russia is mostly grey: citizens rent apartments from individuals, tenants’ rights are not protected by contracts, and the quality of the properties leaves much to be desired.
Veronika Yanushkevich, Director of Rental Housing Development, JSC DOM.RF, shared some statistics: 11% of families have to rent apartments in Russia. In the Far East, this figure is 14%. By comparison, 30-50% of families live in rented housing abroad. Elvira Nurgalieva, First Deputy Director General for Social Development of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, stressed the importance of developing the rental housing market in solving demographic problems.
‘You cannot just invite specialists without offering them a decent place to live,’ said Sergey Nosov, Governor of Magadan Region. According to Governor Nosov, this housing must be new and of good quality. In addition to housing for employed people and students, we should not forget about housing for government officials, in particular security officers invited to work in the regions. We should bear in mind that this category does not earn ‘the highest salaries’.
Olga Batalina, First Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, is positive that affordable rental housing of good quality will reduce ‘the exodus of young people’.
The quality of secondary education in the regions is high, school graduates are able to enter universities, and ‘the availability of modern student residences may be one of the factors influencing a student’s decision to study in the Far East’.
First Deputy Minister also noted that a developed rental housing market could help bring the birth rate problem closer to being solved. She cited statistics from the Russian Accounts Chamber, whose survey showed that 44% of respondents believe an improvement in housing conditions to be the main factor influencing family growth, while 60% said that reducing mortgage interest rates was a key area of concern, and 42% think that large families should be provided with free housing.
When passing the floor to Veronika Minina, HSE Vice Rector, the moderator of the session Maria Kudryavtseva, Anchor, Russia 24 TV Channel, said that the issue of student housing can now be considered resolved at HSE University. There were 2,500 people who needed housing back in 2020, but this need has now been met.
Veronika Minina backed this up. She is certain that ‘the example of HSE University should be used by other universities as a matrix’ to solve the problem of student accommodation. She reminded the audience that 50,000 students are studying at HSE University, in and outside Moscow. The HSE Vice Rector said that the problem had been solved thanks to cooperation with JSC DOM.RF. According to Veronika Minina, student rental housing is a new feasible way to attract students. When choosing a university, parents want to know where and how their child will be living.
Security is an important element, so we have provided 24-hour security. Quality is also important, so students live in comfortable conditions, and our student housing includes household appliances and kitchens, says HSE Vice Rector.
According to Veronika Minina, the third important element is the opportunity for ‘students to live in their own environment, as the whole house is student housing’. The rental fee ranges from RUB 13,000 for a room with roommates to RUB 29,000 for a studio apartment. ‘Students live in self-contained one bedroom flats,’ HSE Vice Rector clarified.
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