National Recovery Resilience Plan and Student Housing Investment: A Contingent Valuation Method to Address Students’ Willingness to Pay

The debate related to expensive rents in many Italian cities has been exacerbated by university students’ movement which underlines the significative lack of beds for off-site students. This movement intersects with the assignment of some National Recovery Resilience Plan (PNRR) funds for the development of new student housing to increase the offer of off-site student accommodation, intending to stabilize rental prices. In this context, the present contribution aims at addressing the Willingness to Pay (WTP) of students to live in a student housing. This research analyses the city of Milan, as an emblematic case study in the national context concerning student housing, PNRR, and the rental market. The study proposes a questionnaire to a sub-sample of students of Politecnico di Milano. The aim is investigating their monthly WTP, as well as proposing the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) as an operative tool to address and share an adequate knowledge about students’ need and perspective concerning student housing. The obtained results can be a valuable insight to inform policymakers and investors about students’ needs and preferences to properly support the designing phase.