Young outdoor socialists draw attention to rooms that are too small

(Photo: JS The Hague-Leiden).

Leiden, February 24, 2022, 10:40 p.m. by the editorial staff

The Young Socialists of The Hague-Leiden want the municipality of Leiden to better monitor the quality of life in student accommodation in the city. That’s why the youngsters walked through Leiden on Thursday with a chicken coop.

“Moving into a room is part of student life and student residences can be an enrichment for the city,” explains Abdelkader Karbache. He is president of the local youth section of the PvdA. “Student rooms are now often too small and too expensive and therefore not pleasant to live in. Students do not profit from houses that are converted into insecure and small student rooms for the benefit of pawnbrokers. The municipality must counter this by investing in more new buildings built especially for students.

The Young Socialists cycled through the center of Leiden to draw attention to this issue with a cargo bike. Inside a “farm chicken”. “We chose the metaphor of the dormitory in a chicken coop to make it clear that a house that is too small for many young people is felt to restrict freedom of movement. Or to quote writer Floor Kist: Keeping too many chickens in a small space is called animal cruelty. If we keep too many people in a small space, it’s called spatial planning,” says Karbache.

The JS want action to be taken quickly to improve and guarantee the quality of student accommodation. “Especially during the lockdowns, many students have noticed that they do not have enough space to study in a concentrated way. In addition, working young people should also have the opportunity to live in a safe and pleasant home.”

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