Amsterdam is the most expensive city in the country for students, who have to pay an average of almost €500 a month for a room, according to research by news agency ANP.

‘You often end up paying more than a room is worth but the shortage is so acute in some places that landlords can ask a lot of money,’ Kai Heijneman, chairman of student union LSVB, said in a reaction.

The results are derived from an analysis of 15,000 student rooms offered online. Amsterdam was by far the most expensive, with an average rent of €493 a month for an average room of 15 square metres.

Cheapest

The shortage of rooms is particularly acute in Amsterdam and Utrecht, Heijneman said.

The survey found the cheapest student rooms are in Tilburg, Enschede and Groningen, where prices are some 40% lower than in the capital.

The government has plans to develop an extra 16,000 student rooms by 2016. However, the LSVB says more effort should be made to convert empty office blocks into places for students to live.