Soaring rental prices in Italy’s major and smaller cities are making the right to education an unaffordable luxury, according to students. They report that this year, despite stable demand, the average cost of a single room has surged from €461 to €613—a monthly increase of €152. Students attribute this sharp rise to “pure speculation,” made possible by the absence of effective housing policies.
In response, the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, remains committed to a target of creating 60,000 new student beds in dormitories to be started or completed by June 2026.
The recent PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) tender for the construction of these 60,000 beds has now received 60,000 applications. This figure does not include rejected bids, which would make the total number significantly higher. Of these applications, some have already been validated with construction underway, others are completing the administrative approval process, and the remainder are in an earlier evaluation stage. Furthermore, following the latest allocation from the V tender of Law 338—which provides 75% funding from the Ministry of University for student housing, with the remainder covered by universities or regional right-to-study agencies—approximately €805 million has been distributed since 2023 to fund nearly 8,500 beds.
According to the latest report from Immobiliare.it, Milan leads the ranking for rental prices at €732 per month for a single room, followed by Bologna (€632), Florence (€606), and Rome (€575). The most dramatic increases were recorded in Trento (rising from €381 to €544, +€163, +42.78%), Modena (from €385 to €506, +€121, +31.43%), and Brescia (from €399 to €519, +€120, +30.08%).
Alessandro Bruscella, National Coordinator of Udu (the Union of University Students), stated: “The €613 average for a single room highlights an issue Udu has always championed: the need for real investment in housing policies that prioritize public residency instead of incentivizing the private sector, which necessarily speculates on the concrete needs of students. Housing is a right, not a luxury. Studying is becoming a luxury, and the government can no longer ignore such a pressing problem.” In a report last spring, Udu claimed that for approximately 900,000 students (though the Ministry of University estimates half that number), there are currently fewer than 50,000 public beds available, and that rental costs have grown by 38% over the last three years.