'Returns in the Netherlands are really insufficient'

Student Experience is choosing growth outside the Netherlands.

In April 2026, PropertyNL's Bert Pots spoke with Student Experience CEO Johan Verweij, shortly after Student Experience won the tender for a large-scale student housing project next to Rey Juan Carlos University in Mostoles, near Madrid. Mostoles is the third Spanish project, after Madrid Pozuelo and Granada, and a project in Malaga is in preparation. 'I feel genuinely welcome in Spain,' Verweij says. 'Spanish student cities face an enormous shortage of good student housing. Winning a tender is far from easy in a European procedure with firm competition, but municipalities see that we bring something, and they cooperate effectively.'

The Dutch climate

How different things are in the Netherlands today. When Student Experience opened its first project at Amsterdam's Zuidas more than ten years ago, the city welcomed it with open arms. 'Today the climate is completely different. Building owners are dismissed as slumlords. Construction is expensive, land costs are exorbitant and procedures take painfully long.'

Finding capital is not the problem: Student Experience has worked with Rinkelberg Capital for years, and their return requirements are not excessive. 'They do not demand double-digit returns. But what they could realise in Amsterdam is really insufficient.' Amsterdam is not the only Dutch city where this bites. In Rotterdam a project had to be cancelled because regulated rents, plus an additional municipal cap on part of them, made the numbers impossible. Grid congestion adds costs on top: battery storage offers a way out, but the concept simply cannot carry that expense.

A concept that travels

The Spanish projects follow the same trusted concept as the Dutch ones: safe, practical housing at a top location, where students can concentrate on their studies and enjoy student life. With room for local variation. 'I like concepts we can repeat, but there is space to vary. In Mostoles it is important to account for the absence of students in the summer months, so we will offer short stay there. The facilities differ too: with this weather a swimming pool fits. And their lifestyle demands good food and beverage. A restaurant is the place where residents meet.'

Towards 10.000 beds

After more than ten years, Student Experience counts 4.000 beds. The ambition is to grow towards 10.000. Beyond Spain, projects are in the works in Portugal (Porto), Italy (Milan) and Greece (Athens), where different housing forms will be offered. Student Experience does not work exclusively with Rinkelberg Capital and also develops for external asset managers. Management abroad stays with local partners: 'It is the only way to keep the quality of our brand upright, to solve problems fast and to guarantee safety for all residents.'

This insight is based on the interview 'Rendement in Nederland is echt onvoldoende' by Bert Pots, published in PropertyNL Magazine, April 2026.