Finding student housing in the Netherlands

Finding a room or studio as a student is a challenge in its own right in the Netherlands. In almost every student city there is a serious shortage of affordable student housing, and the competition for every room is fierce. If you are an international student arriving from abroad, you also face an extra hurdle: you often have to arrange a place while you are still in another country, sometimes without a Dutch bank account or BSN yet. The good news: once you understand how the market works — which channels exist, what you are entitled to, and what to watch out for — you can significantly improve your chances. This guide walks you through it step by step.

Room, studio or anti-squat: what suits you?

Student housing roughly comes in three flavours, with big differences in price, privacy and security.

A room in a student house or on a student campus is the classic option. You rent your own room and share the kitchen, shower and toilet with housemates. It is usually the cheapest route and socially appealing. Pay attention to the difference between onzelfstandige woonruimte (a room with shared facilities) and zelfstandige woonruimte (a self-contained unit with its own front door, kitchen and toilet). That distinction determines, among other things, whether you are entitled to housing allowance.

A studio or self-contained apartment gives you your own front door, kitchen and bathroom. More privacy, but also considerably more expensive — in the big cities, a small studio can already cost as much as an entire student house. The upside: a self-contained home can qualify for housing allowance (see below).

Anti-squat (antikraak) is the cheap, unconventional option: you live temporarily in an empty building (an old office, school or house) through a property guardian company. The fee is low, but you have no tenant protection. You sign a use agreement (bruikleenovereenkomst), not a rental contract, and you can be asked to leave on short notice — often two to four weeks. For students who are flexible and travel light, it can be an affordable stopgap — but do not count on security or a stable registered address.

SSH, DUWO and other student housing providers

Alongside the private market there are specialised student housing providers that build and rent specifically for students. The best known are:

• SSH& — active in cities including Utrecht, Groningen, Maastricht, Tilburg and Zwolle.
• DUWO — large in Delft, Amsterdam, Leiden, Den Haag and Wageningen.
• Local housing corporations and foundations such as SSHN (Nijmegen), Idealis (Wageningen/Ede) and the SSH in other cities.

These providers often rent out via a waiting list based on registration time: the longer you have been registered, the more priority you get. The most important tip is therefore simple but crucial: register as early as possible, ideally as soon as you know you will be studying — sometimes even during your final exam year at secondary school. Registration usually costs a small annual fee, but builds up points or waiting time that are worth their weight in gold later. For popular rooms in the big cities, waiting times can run to a year or more.

Some rooms are offered not by waiting time but via a lottery or via hospiteren (a housemate selection evening). With hospiteren, the student house invites candidates and the current residents choose their new housemate themselves — so how well you click with the house matters more than your registration time. As an international student, do not be put off by this: many houses actively want English-speaking or international housemates, and showing up in person makes a real difference.

The private market: where speed counts

Have you not built up any waiting time yet, or does your study programme start in just a few weeks? Then you will largely depend on the private market: rooms and studios offered by private landlords and letting agents. There is no waiting list here, but speed and completeness are everything. Attractive rooms receive dozens of replies within a day.

The problem is that the supply is scattered across dozens of sites: large room platforms, local agents, Facebook groups and small letting agencies. Anyone who manually checks ten sites misses listings and is almost always too late. That is why it pays to bundle the supply and have yourself alerted the moment something new appears. An aggregator like HuurScanner collects the current listings from many different sources in one place and sends you a notification as soon as a room or studio is added that matches your search profile. In a market where minutes count, that can be the difference between winning the race and getting an automatic rejection. You can read how to approach this smartly in responding faster to rental listings.

Housing allowance for students: are you entitled to it?

Housing allowance (huurtoeslag) is a government contribution towards your rent, and as a student you can be entitled to it too — but there are conditions.

The main rules:

• You rent a self-contained unit (zelfstandige woonruimte) with its own front door, kitchen and toilet. For an ordinary room with shared facilities you generally get no housing allowance.
• You are 18 years or older.
• Your (basic) rent is below the applicable housing allowance threshold. This limit is adjusted annually and was just over 900 euros per month in 2025.
• Your income, and that of any co-residents, stays below the income limit, and your assets stay below the maximum.

Note: there is an exception for a number of designated shared (onzelfstandige) student units that do qualify for housing allowance, but that is the exception, not the rule. Unsure? Run the trial calculation on the website of the Belastingdienst (Toeslagen) — it shows immediately whether and how much you can receive. A DUO student loan, incidentally, does not count as income for housing allowance. To apply, you will normally need a DigiD and a registered Dutch address, so make sure you complete your registration with the municipality first.

What a room or studio is allowed to cost

Since the Affordable Rent Act (Wet betaalbare huur, 2024), a large share of rooms and small homes also falls under a regulated maximum rent. The rent is determined by the points system (the housing valuation system, WWS). For shared rooms (onzelfstandige woonruimte), a separate, dedicated points system with its own maximum rent has applied since 2024.

In practice this means:

• A landlord cannot simply ask any high amount they like. The number of points — based on floor area, facilities, energy label and more — determines the maximum basic rent.
• If you think you are paying too much, you can submit your case to the Huurcommissie (Rent Tribunal) within the legal deadline. They can lower the rent to the legal maximum.
• See the details in our guide am I paying too much rent? and read about the difference between regulated and free-sector rent in social housing versus the free sector.

On top of the basic rent you often pay service costs (servicekosten, for things like gas, water, electricity, internet or cleaning of shared areas). These must be reasonable and itemised; a landlord is not allowed to make a hidden profit on them. You can read more about this in service costs explained.

Your rights as a tenant — know them

Students are a popular target for less honest landlords, precisely because they are often young, in a hurry and inexperienced. International students can be even more vulnerable, as they may not yet know the local rules. Remember these rights well:

Always ask for a written rental contract and never pay a deposit or rent before you have seen the room and signed a contract. Be extra alert to "landlords" who are abroad, who rush you, and who ask you to transfer money in advance for a home you have not viewed — that is a classic scam pattern, and one that targets international students arriving from overseas in particular. A more in-depth checklist can be found in recognising rental scams. Before you sign, also run through our rental contract checklist.

The busiest student cities

The shortage varies from city to city. A few points to keep in mind:

• Amsterdam — by far the tightest and most expensive market. Start registering extremely early and also look at surrounding towns with good public transport links.
• Utrecht and Groningen — large student populations and long waiting times; SSH& is the main player here. Browse the listings in Utrecht and Groningen.
• Delft and Leiden — a technical and a classic university city respectively; DUWO dominates. Rooms go quickly.
• Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Maastricht, Tilburg, Enschede — generally a little less tight than the top of the Randstad, but registering early pays off here too. Feel free to compare the listings per city.

A practical strategy: do not only look at the student city itself, but also at a village or neighbouring municipality a train ride away. There the competition is smaller and the price often lower, while you are still within commuting distance of your programme.

Your action plan in brief

1. Register today with the student housing provider(s) in your city (SSH&, DUWO, a local corporation). You only build up waiting time while you are registered.
2. Set your budget and search profile: room or studio, maximum rent including service costs, and which neighbourhoods.
3. Bundle the private market and switch on instant alerts, so you are the first to respond.
4. Keep a complete dossier ready: a short introduction email, proof of registration/income or a guarantor (often your parents), and a copy of your ID with the BSN and photo masked.
5. Check your rights: deposit, rent and service costs, and check your entitlement to housing allowance.

Finding student housing is largely a matter of starting early and searching in an organised way. Register for the waiting lists in good time, cover the private market at the same time with instant alerts, and know your rights so that no one makes you overpay.

Ready to get started? Browse the current room listings or read how HuurScanner Premium gives you a head start with instant alerts in the battle for scarce student rooms.