Tartu students increasingly choose rental flats over dormitories

Students moving to Tartu for university studies are increasingly choosing rental flats over dormitory accommodation, ERR reported. Accommodation operated by Tartu Student Village, which runs eight dormitories, is used by about 25 percent of University of Tartu students.

“We are not the first choice for a large proportion of students, as more and more students prefer to look for accommodation on the rental market,” said Karen Tuul, the student village’s accommodation manager.

The number of international students at the University of Tartu has also fallen, which Tuul said may be one of the main reasons for the lower demand for dormitory places. Some double rooms are currently vacant.

Most University of Tartu students who wanted a dormitory place have now received accommodation, Tuul said. Single rooms and one and two-room apartment-style units are the most popular and have the longest waiting lists. University of Tartu students receive priority at Tartu Student Village, although students from other higher education institutions are also on the waiting list.

Ene Linnok, a senior administrative specialist at Tartu Health Care College, said the college had received a quarter fewer dormitory applications this year than last year. A waiting list has nevertheless been formed.

The Estonian University of Life Sciences’ Rohemu Campus dormitory has received more applications this year than last year, according to its manager, Roland Aik Kask. The dormitory has about 900 places, 70 percent of which are occupied by students of the university.

Kask said the dormitory had renovated its rooms, made them more functional and changed its contract terms in recent years.

Monthly prices at Tartu Student Village range from about 85 euros for the cheapest rooms to 475 euros for studio apartments. Tartu Health Care College dormitory rooms cost between 53 and 165 euros per month, depending on the room type and use. At Rohemu Campus, monthly fees range from 165 to 600 euros, depending on the accommodation type and contract.

Tartu Student Village has 2,681 places across its eight dormitories. Rohemu Campus has about 900 places, while Tartu Health Care College has nearly 300.