Living in Amsterdam is a great experience, but finding a room is a challenge. VU Amsterdam has limited housing options and therefore cannot guarantee housing to all incoming exchange students.
Below you will find all housing rules and regulations. We advise you to read them carefully.
Our accommodation consists of furnished and unfurnished (single) rooms with private or shared facilities. It is common that men and women live together in the same student house. Given the shortage of accommodation, you may find the room you get is rather small and not of the standard you had expected. Accommodation in Amsterdam is not only limited, but can also be more expensive than at home. Thinking about these things in advance could help avoid unpleasant surprises later. We are trying to manage your expectations!
Rental contracts are for a fixed period of 1 year or 1 semester.
The rental periods are:
Please find the room types in this overview of the types of accommodation for exchange students starting the first semester
We have very limited rooms available for couples. Most of the couples rooms are part of DUWO Accommodate and are located at Cornelis Lelylaan, Pierre Lallementstraat and Uilenstede. We also have couples rooms at OurCampus Amsterdam Diemen and BOLD (De Key).
To qualify for a couples room, it is mandatory that your partner is also a VU student. We will assign couples rooms on a first-paid, first-served basis (so based on the date on which we received the housing fee). After you both paid the housing fee, please contact us via e-mail, studentaccommodation@vu.nl, to let us know that you prefer a couples room. Also mention both student numbers in the email. You can find more information about couple rooms in this document.
Step 1: Online application (Incoming exchange team)
All nominated exchange students receive the email with detailed application instructions at the same time and can therefore get started at the same time. The Incoming exchange team reviews applications in order of receipt. The earlier you submit your exchange application including all needed documents, the earlier you can start your housing application as well.
Step 2: Please confirm your participation in dashboard on vu.nl.
Step 3: Select your budget category
During your application you will be asked to indicate your budget category. Please note that you can no longer make any changes after you have submitted your application, however the selected budget category is only an indication for us as and you will be able to choose out of rooms from all budget categories. Therefore, we cannot guarantee a room in this specific category as we have a limited number of rooms available.
Step 4: Pay the housing fee
Please transfer the housing fee. Accommodation will be assigned based on a first paid, first served system. The date on which VU Amsterdam receives the payment will determine your place in the queue. As soon as you finish the housing application, a link to pay the housing fee online will become available within 12 hours within your personal VU dashboard.
The housing fee is necessary to cover the costs of VU Amsterdam in providing the housing service to international students and staff.
The fee is used to reserve affordable housing specifically for first-year international students, who often have great difficulty finding housing due to the scarcity on the housing market and high rents. The fee is refunded if VU Amsterdam is unable to offer a room from its reserved. VU Amsterdam would like to emphasize that the services are only cost-covering. For exchange students the fee is €500 for one year and €250 for one semester. We advise you to use the online payment tool, but it is also possible to pay the fee via bank transfer. The bank details are as follows:
Account name: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Name of bank: Deutsche Bank
Address of bank: De Entree 99-197, 1101 HE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
IBAN: NL49DEUT0488004470
BIC: DEUTNL2N and DEUTNL2A for non-SEPA
Please state your name and S+ student number (e.g. s1234567). When paid from abroad, all banking costs are to be paid by the applicant. You can pay your visa and housing fee in one transaction. Applications for accommodation will not be dealt with until VU Amsterdam has received this payment.
Step 5: Your application is completed!
Within a few weeks you will receive a confirmation e-mail from the VU Accommodation Office. You are now added to the accommodation queue. You have completed your housing application and there is nothing left to do at this moment.
Step 6: It’s now time to book your room
A few months before the start of the academic year you will receive further instructions from the VU Accommodation Office via e-mail. You will be able to book your room in the booking system, according to your preference and availability. Students will be uploaded in the booking system in batches based on a first paid, first served system. The first group of students who will be booking their room will have a choice out of the most rooms. You can only book one room and it is not possible to change your room after your booking.
Step 7: Finally, let’s sign your rental contract
Once you have reserved your room in the booking system, you have almost completed the procedure. You will receive further instructions via e-mail in order to sign the rental contract with your housing provider. You still need to follow a few steps (depending on the housing provider) before you can do this.
In case all rooms are booked, students will be placed on a waiting list. We are not able to give information about your position on the waiting list. As soon as it is your turn to access the booking system, you will be notified via e-mail. We are fully dependent on cancellations. The room(s) available in the booking system will be from any budget category. Please keep in mind that the waiting list does not give you guarantees. We will do our utmost to find housing in Amsterdam or in the Amsterdam Region (Amstelveen, Hoofddorp, Almere, Zaandam).
Your housing fee will only be refunded when you cancel your application before July 1st, 23:59 CET (Amsterdam time). You can cancel your housing application by sending an e-mail to studentaccommodation@vu.nl. It is only possible to request a refund of the housing fee after 1 July 2025 when the VU Accommodation Office did not yet give you access to the booking system. As soon as you have been given access to our booking system, your housing fee becomes non-refundable. For example, when you are on the waiting list and you receive access later than 1 July 2025 then it is not possible to cancel your housing application without costs. If you do not wish to be on the waiting list any more, please inform studentaccommodation@vu.nl as soon as possible.
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