Our international office can help with arranging accommodation for international degree students. More information can be found on this webpage.
Below you will find all housing rules and regulations. We advise you to read them carefully.
If you plan to study at VU Amsterdam it is essential to think of a place to live. Unfortunately, finding a room in Amsterdam is difficult and stressful. The housing market is extremely tight. In this video we explain what the housing market in Amsterdam looks like, and how to prepare yourself.
All students who have been (conditionally) accepted will receive an invitation to confirm their participation on VU.nl. Once you have confirmed your participation, you will be able to apply for accommodation on the VU-Dashboard. You can only apply for accommodation from VU Amsterdam when you meet the following criteria:
• You are enrolled in an English-taught degree programme;
• You are a first year student;
• You have a non-Dutch nationality. Please note that when you have dual citizenship of the Netherlands and an EU/Non-EU country, you are not eligible for accommodation via us;
• You have to be admitted based on a foreign diploma;
• You are not living in the Netherlands.
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 for Bachelor's and (pre-) Master's students:
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). Most of the rooms for couples contain 1 larger bed.
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.
The rental prices mentioned are per month. The price varies according to type, size and location. Services costs (water, electricity, cable internet etc.) are included in the price.
All rents mentioned are subject to change, and as such you cannot derive a right from these prices. You can find the (range of) rental prices in the types of accommodation documents listed above. Various types of accommodation are eligible for housing allowance. See 'Taxes and Housing Allowance' for more information. Please note that apart from the rent, our housing providers may also charge you an administrative fee, deposit and/or the first few months of rent in advance.
For Pre-Master's students the housing application has to be done manually. Students who are doing a pre-master can choose for housing during the pre-master or for housing during the 1st year of their full study programme. So in case you choose for housing during your pre-master, it is not possible to apply again for your next academic year.
In case you want housing during your pre-master, this has to be done manually as you are not able to apply via Your Personal VU Dashboard. Please contact us via studentaccommodation@vu.nl. We will send you a form in order to apply for the VU housing service and you will receive further instructions via e-mail. In the explanation below, you can read from “step 3: Pay the housing fee” as the procedure is the same from this step.
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.
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 charged to cover our costs in providing accommodation services to international students. It's not a deposit or part of the rent or any other payment.
For Bachelor's and (pre)-Master's students the fee is €500 for all contracts. 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.
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.
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.
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. Please keep in mind that the waiting list does not give you any guarantees to get a room via VU Accommodation Office. We are fully dependent on cancellations. We advise you to search for a room independently.
We created a video about this process, which you can find here.
Your housing fee will only be refunded when you cancel your application before July 1st, 23:59 CET (Amsterdam time), even if you have already received a housing offer through us.
You can request the refund by sending an e-mail to studentaccommodation@vu.nl. It is only possible to request a refund of the housing fee after 1 July 2024 when the University Accommodation Office did not yet give you access to the booking system. After 1 July, as soon as you have been offered a room or you have been uploaded to the booking system ROOM.nl, your housing fee becomes non-refundable. For example, when you are on the waiting list and you receive a room offer later than 1 July 2024 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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