Tips for finding a room independently

As soon as you are (conditionally) admitted, we advise you to apply for and pay for our housing service. Please be aware that you can apply for housing starting from October 1 of the previous academic year. If you are admitted in April 2025 and wish to start in September 2025, many students will already be on the housing application list.

Students with special requests cannot be accommodated through VU. For example, if you wish to bring your family or a pet. If this applies to you, or if you are simply not interested in the accommodation types we offer, we advise you to start looking directly in the private market.

• Affordable housing on the private market in Amsterdam is scarce and expensive it starts at €750 and up.
• Consider a room in nearby towns, such as Diemen, Zaandam, Almere, Purmerend, Haarlem, or Hoofddorp.
• Look for early starting dates, don’t wait for a room starting on mid-August or September, accept a room with a starting date from April – beginning of August.
• Look for rooms from students who are subletting: Student that are going abroad for their studies/internship will try to sublet their room during their time abroad.
• Look out for scams, see also the tips below how to avoid this.
• The !WOON tenant support agency (funded by the Amsterdam municipality) provides information, advice and support for tenants and owner-occupants. Confidentially and free of charge. By giving internationals more insight into the Dutch rental market and their rights and obligations as tenants they hope to contribute to their stay in Amsterdam. !WOON has offices all over the city with regular walk-ins (no appointment necessary). They also have a special department for extreme situations involving intimidation etc, called the Meldpunt.

If you decide to stay in Amsterdam for longer than one year, we strongly advise you to register anyway on Studentenwoningweb.nl and ROOM.nl as soon as possible, since these are working with registration time. Out of all students responding to a listing, the room is offered to the student ranked highest on the waiting list.

This registration might not offer you a room for the first year but can be an option for students who have housing via VU Amsterdam for the first year and need to find housing for the second or third year of their studies.

Priority for international students at ROOM.nl
ROOM.nl offers international students coming from abroad to skip the waiting list on selected buildings. This priority is only valid for contracts with start dates from 1 June to 30 September 2025 at the following locations:

• Spinozacampus (Darlingstraat-Dennenrodepad)
• Opaallaan (Hoofddorp)
• Schoonzichtlaan (Haarlem)

If you are offered one of these rooms, you will receive a campus contract for the entire duration of your studies. Please note that these rooms are non-furnished. You will have to arrange your own furniture (and sometimes flooring and fixtures too).

When you register at ROOM.nl with an address from outside the Netherlands, you will automatically skip the waiting list when you respond to listings at the above-mentioned locations. If multiple international students respond, the international student with the longest registration time is offered the room. Read more on the DUWO website.

We advise you to sign up for RoomPlaza, Housing Anywhere and Kamernet. They all offer housing not only in Amsterdam, but also in surrounding towns and villages.

RoomPlaza
The platform where (international) students can book their accommodation with a group or as an individual entirely online. Booking a flat is safe and secure. Tenants can book flats on the basis of accurate descriptions, photos and video viewings. And what’s more - as long as your numbers are correct - RoomPlaza offers flats for your entire group. If you do not have a group yet, you can use the find-flatmate-tool to create one! Their Customer Service Team is available and can be contacted daily, so you can be assured that things will run smoothly.

Housing Anywhere
For Housing Anywhere, you can get a 20% discount on the subscription fee, a VU Amsterdam priority profile and priority access to the listings in Amsterdam sign up here. You can find information about finding your new place on the how it works page. Do you need more information or have a specific question? Send an email to vip@housinganywhere.com.

Hospi Housing is the biggest platform for homestay in the Netherlands. They offer a free-to-use platform with hundreds of verified hosts and guest families. Hospi Housing does not charge any registration fees, you only pay a one-time fee if you find a room. Before and during your stay they provide personal advice to get you well prepared for your arrival in Amsterdam.

Staying with a host or guest family will provide you with a soft landing in town and is the perfect way to get in touch with Dutch culture and language. You’ll have your own private room and shared facilities like a kitchen and bathroom. Get more information and sign up at: https://hospihousing.com. 

In this PDF, you can find more options, also for temporary housing.

VU Amsterdam cannot be held responsible for the services delivered by any provider of alternative accommodation.