Finding a room

If you have not been allocated a room in student housing, you will need to find one on the private market. Because the number of students in Amsterdam exceeds the number of rooms available, this can be difficult and time consuming.

The following tips may assist you when looking for a room:

• The ASVA Student Union provides general information on renting a room in Amsterdam, and also act as a mediator between students and landlords. www.asva.nl
• The SRVU is a student union based at the VU University Amsterdam, of which UvA students can also become members. The SRVU offers the same student/landlord mediation service as ASVA.       www.srvu.org (in Dutch only). 
• www.HousingAnywhere.com is a housing platform on which students that go on exchange for a few months post their room; incoming exchange students can respond on those rooms immediately. This website operates on a full student-to-student basis, without intermediaries. www.HousingAnywhere.com
• The Foreign Student Service provides international students with assistance in finding accommodation.  www.foreignstudents.nl
• www.kamernet.nloffers a large amount of rooms online. You need to be a member of the website to respond to rooms adverts.They charge a fee for membership to the website (Premium Membership - 1 month for € 19,95). www.studentenkamers.nl  provides similar services.
• Amsterdams Steunpunt Wonen (ASW) provides much useful information on housing in Amsterdam.  www.huurders.info
• Students for Students provides listing of rooms owned by private landlords. www.sfshousing.nl. The charge 10 euro entrance fee and a commission when you find a room through them.
• Three Housing Corporations, De Key, Duwo and Ymere have one central information desk for student housing. This option is especially interesting if you will stay in Amsterdam longer than one year. This website works on a waiting-list system. You will have to accumulate waiting time in order to increase your chances of finding a room via this website. The website is in Dutch; www.studentenwoningweb.nl. For further information you can contact De Key or DUWO via 020-6214500 and 020-5431100.
• Housing corporation DUWO also offers short stay accommodation via Direct Offer; http://www.duwo.nl/eCache/DEF/8/695.html. After registering via de website, you can log in and search for rooms in the online database.

Commercial agencies and private landlords

In Amsterdam there are two room agencies run on a non-commercial basis: ASVA, and SRVU (links are mentioned above). All the other room agencies in the city are run on a commercial basis, which means that they profit financially of the great housing shortage. All commercial agencies offering houses or rooms must be registered with the Amsterdam authorities. They are allowed to ask only a reasonable registration fee. They have to offer you a house or room within four months, if not, you can get your money back. If they find you a room, you have to pay for their services. This amount also has to be reasonable.
We advise you to be very careful when you apply to such a room agency. Often it will only cost you a lot of money. When you have questions, you can go to the ASW office (www.huurders.info) for information and advice.

You can also find a room on the private market by checking the local papers, or advertisements in the grocery store. Before you go and look at a room, it is important to prioritise in terms of what you are looking for (i.e. price, location, size, etc.) During the viewing, look carefully at the condition of the room (check for proper insulation, possible mould/water damage, signs of vermin) and the facilities available (heating, kitchen, bathroom, etc.) in order to determine if it meets your needs. Unfortunately, untrustworthy landlords are common. Therefore, do not go to a viewing alone, and do not pay anything before you have made clear agreements in writing. Because illegal subletting of social housing is practised, it is important that you confirm that you are able to obtain an official contract with which you can register at the municipality.

Tips

ASVA Student Desk and Housing Raffle

The ASVA Student Desk provides students with information on how to find a room in Amsterdam and offers rooms to students on a weekly basis.
The ASVA Room Office is a non-commercial agency that works on a raffle system. The results are completely non-discriminatory and there are no waiting or priority lists. The rooms available in the raffle are posted on the ASVA website. In order to enter the raffle, you must become an ASVA member.

In addition, every Thursday  the Student Desk holds a bicycle sale, at which ASVA members can buy a bicycle for just €55 (which is very cheap). You can also turn to ASVA for free legal advice if you have legal problems during your stay in Amsterdam. ASVA also has a guide on studying in Amsterdam for international students, which you can pick up for free at the Student Desk.

Non-commercial housing agencies:

ASVA Student Union
Service & Information Centre
Binnengasthuisstraat 9, desk 7
1012 ZA Amsterdam
T: +31(0) 20 525 2926
E: studentenbalie@asva.nl
www.asva.nl 

For legal advice, email rechtsbureau@asva.nl

Amsterdams Steunpunt Wonen
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 32
1012 RZ Amsterdam
T: +31 (0) 20 5230130
E: info@steunpuntwonen.
Opening hours: Monday to Thursday, 09.00 - 17.00, Friday 09.00-13.00.