You might decide to arrange your own housing. This, unfortunately, can be challenging. To help you to get started, we have collected practical information for you.
Start on time!
In case you are going to arrange your own housing, please make sure you do start in time This will help you avoid stress and disapointment. It can be challenging to arrange your own accommodation.
Next to this, it is important to arrange an official rental agreement. This is one of the conditions for living and getting registered in The Netherlands.
If you are a non-EU student with a residence permit based on study, you may only live in The Netherlands. It is not allowed to live outside The Netherlands (i.e. just across the border in Germany)
General searching time is 3 months or longer!
Arranging your own accommodation
What is your budget like?
Prepare a budget plan and estimate how much money you have available for your rent + additional costs. For more information on a typical student budget in the Netherlands you can look here.
Indication of the general rental prices per month
Of course this depends on the type of housing (shared or individual), build-up of your rental price (including or excluding costs like gas/water/electricity or communal taxes).
- Room in Enschede starting from euro 300.-
- Room in Deventer starting from euro 350.-
- Room in Apeldoorn starting from euro 400.-
Consider looking outside of Enschede, Deventer or Apeldoorn.
Do not close your eyes to alternative housing in cities close to our study locations, like Hengelo or Almelo. For studying in Deventer, living in Apeldoorn (or the other way around) might be a good alternative as well.
Travel expenses
Of course you will need to add travel expenses to your budget if you choose to live in another location. For general prices if you travel by train, check the website for the Dutch National train service here .
If you are an EU student, you might even consider living just across the border in the neighbouring town of Gronau. If you live in across the border in Germany, you can apply for a special discount card by train for Saxion students living in Germany. More information on that here.
It's common in the Netherlands to arrange your student accommodation via online platforms.
Sign up with non-profit housing organisations/platforms.
It is important to do this as soon as possible.
We strongly advise Deventer students to sign up with our partner ROOM.NL.
For Enschede we advise to register ROOMSPOT.NL.
Specifically for Apeldoorn we also like to refer to housing organisation Ons Huis.
These platforms are free of charge and available in English. Multiple housing organisations are partners in these platforms and offer accommodation to students/youngsters.
Via the platforms you can receive 2 types of offers:
Regular student room
Student rooms via a co-optation/vote-in system (in Dutch: hospiteren).
This is a selection procedure in which the existing occupants of a student house choose their follow residents. For more information on co-optation check here.
Sign up with commercial housing agencies and search engines.
Before signing up, make sure you know how they work. Sometimes you need to pay a commission fee or subscription fee.
Enschede
Here are some of the most well-known commercial housing agencies for Enschede.
- XIOR *please note Saxion does not have a reservation code, for information please email enschede@xior.nl
- Plaza Resident Services (click on I am looking for smart living solutions for students)
- Dutch Student Union
- Direct Wonen
- Kamertje.nl
- Kamernet
- Pararius
- Funda
- Smart Wonen
- VlugWonen
- Twents Vast
- UTwente
- Huurwoningen.nl (in Dutch only)
- VPS* (in Dutch only)
Deventer/Apeldoorn
Here are some of the most well-known housing agencies for Deventer and Apeldoorn.
- Plaza Resident Services (click on I am looking for smart living solutions for students)
- Directwonen
- Domica
- Kamertje.nl
- Kamernet
- Pararius
- Funda
- Nederwoon (in Dutch only)
- Huurwoningen.nl (in Dutch only)
- VPS* (in Dutch only)
*This is an organisation that manages vacant buildings and offers them under specific conditions. Often for temporary use only.
Disclaimer: Saxion does not endorse or recommend any specific housing agency, landlord or any individual property owner. Saxion does not inspect any of the accommodation listed and does not accept any liability for any of the accommodation advertised in the above mentioned sites.
Temporary options
If time is running out, it is a must to make a back-up plan. Make sure you have a temporary roof above your head before travelling to the Netherlands. The pressure on the housing/room market is at its peak in the periods August – October & January-February.
Tips:
- If you have friends/family in The Netherlands, consider staying with them so you have time to look for your own place.
- Use other contacts you might have. A lot of students do find housing by spreading the word to their contacts/network. Offers might pop up via unexpected channels.
- Be open to offers with an alternative starting date (either earlier or later then you prefer). You will need some extra budget for this since you might have to pay a month extra or look for temporary housing in a hotel/motel till you can move in.
- Use social media to spread the word or to look for for housing but be careful! Nowadays it is easy to get scammed online.
Short stay information
If you are in need of a B&B or hotel, please check the following websites.
- Enschede: Uit in Enschede
- Deventer: Stay over night
- Apeldoorn: Uit in Apeldoorn
Hostels in Netherlands
You can find hostels in The Netherlands here.
No housing
Finding a room in one of our study locations might really be challenging.
We strongly advise you not to travel without having made any arrangements!