After you have received official acceptance from the university, don't wait but start looking for housing. In some students cities finding housing is quite a challenge. Monthly rent ranges from €450-€850 per month. Read our other useful tips.
Most universities do not have their own dormitories and students generally need to arrange their own accommodation. Most students share a house with two or three other persons, to keep the costs low. But trying to find a unit for yourself is also an option. The price of a room depends on its size, location, if it is furnished or not and with how many people you share the facilities with, like a bathroom and kitchen. The quality of the building also determines the rent rate. Start looking for housing 3 months in advance to avoid disappointment.
This is the safest option, as it is free from scams. Some universities have a limited number of rooms that they reserve for early applicants with an international background. These reserved rooms are usually allocated on a ‘first-paid, first served’ basis, so make sure you contact the university not later than 1st of May. Universities charge a housing fee that varies between €200-€350 if you ask them for help. And monthly rent ranges from €450 - €850 per room. More information is available at the international office or housing office of each university. For example at the website of Delft Technical University .
If you choose this pathway, you are advised to only contact the government-monitored social housing provider. The Dutch Student Union website publishes the sites of the referred social housing providers. First, you need to click the name of the city where you want to live, and then search for ‘Housing corporations’. The Dutch Student Union also publishes national/local websites and Facebook pages from accommodation agencies. Not everything they recommend is automatically trusted; specifically beware of commercial web companies, which charge a subscription fee. Reviews of this platform also vary. Get used to checking reviews about them first!Also beware of the accommodation agents that are warned by the Dutch Student Union on their website, complete with explanations. If there is no explicit warning, check whether the accommodation agent has an office that you can physically visit. If they don't have an office and include it on their website, you shouldn't do business with them.
If you have an acquaintance or family that lives around where you are going to study, you can also choose to live with them. It can be temporarily until you get your own accommodation, or while you study, depending on your agreement with the acquaintance or the family.
Via the 'rent check' of the Dutch Student's Union, you can check if your room is priced decently
Read all reviews you can find on internet first. Leiden University has some useful info about this: visit their website.
Make sure that the landlord is reliable, by checking whether the person who referred you to the landlord knows him personally.
Generally the housing corporations are ok, but be careful with commercial companies.
Don’t sign before you have thoroughly read the contract first. Via the ‘rent check’ of the Dutch Student Union, you can check whether or not your room is priced decently.
Don’t make any payments before you have seen the house yourself!
Check at the Dutch Student Union website which sites use “anti-squatting” systems. In this system, an empty house or office is rented out for an indefinite time as long as the office or house is not used. If the accommodation owner plans to use the accommodation again, then your contract will be terminated and you will have to leave the accommodation. This is the reason why we do not recommend renting via this system.
Contact the Housing Hotline , from the Dutch Student Union.
Google the suburb on newspaper articles. You can also check the website from Expatica .
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