There are 9,000 places in student residences in Munich – for around 140,000 students. Barely one in 15 who are enrolled at a university can enjoy comparatively cheap accommodation. On average, you pay 347 euros for a room. And the rest? The vast majority have to try their luck in the tense housing market – and usually have to pay a lot of money for it.
For example Andreas Leykam. The 21-year-old is in his fourth semester studying Technology and Management at the Technical University of Munich. After subletting for a limited period at the beginning of his studies, he found a place to stay in a three-person flat share near Königsplatz in April 2022. His room is eleven square meters and costs €715 per month warm. Not an isolated case in Munich: According to a study by the Moses Mendelssohn Institute and the “WG-gesucht” portal, the average room rate in the city is 720 euros.
“A real stroke of luck” is his room, says Leykam. For the 75 square meter apartment with a balcony, the flat shares together pay around 2,300 euros. “Without Connections I would never have gotten the room,” he says. He found the WG through friends of friends. However, with the new year came a rent increase, since then he has had to pay 55 euros more than before.
“I’m receiving student loans, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford all that,” he says, “but since student loans only cover the rent, I also have to work on the side.” In the on-call service for an organ donation foundation, he earns something extra. A shift lasts 16 hours on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends. There he is responsible for acute organ donation transports. So that his Bafög is not reduced, he must make sure that he does not earn more than 520 euros a month.
The job doesn’t really collide with the lectures, he says, after all he can arrange them as it suits him. However, he is currently doing a mandatory full-time internship, which is not compatible with the job. Financially, he can cope with student loans, child benefit, a permanent part-time job and additional odd jobs, but it’s only enough for the basics. A vacation every year is not possible.
Many students are under pressure to find a room at the start of the semester, explains the Munich Tenants’ Association. At the TU and LMU alone, more than 4,000 freshmen start in April. With a maximum student loan of 934 euros and an average rent of 720 euros, the students are increasingly dependent on the allowances of their parents. Which in turn means that students from less wealthy families have to study elsewhere.
“It is unacceptable that students from wealthy families can live in expensive university cities like Munich, and students from less well-off families have to study where they can just afford the rent,” the tenants’ association positions itself.
Andreas Leykam says he was lucky with his room despite the high price. “I have to keep reminding myself of that.” Nevertheless, he occasionally wishes he had a larger room or a living room with a couch.