I don’t know what’s scarier: seeing “NO INTERNATIONALS”/ “DUTCH SPEAKERS ONLY” on a housing advert, or someone asking me to say hospiteeravond three times in a row.
Welcome to my journey of navigating the Dutch housing market as an international student, and (thankfully) making it out alive.
First, let’s go back to the very beginning:
As Charles Dickens said: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” It really was the best of times, actually. I was able to request housing via Leiden University and I got my hands on a studio at DUWO’s Campus Leidse Schans. Since it was my first year in the Netherlands as an international student, I was eligible to request housing through the university. Funnily enough, it was not the first year of my studies, but that’s a story for another blog. But of course, since a place was not guaranteed, I still looked for housing by myself using platforms such as Kamernet and ROOM.nl. I was really happy (and incredibly relieved) when I received the news that my application through the university had been successful and that I had been allocated a DUWO studio in Sigmaplantsoen. If you’re interested in knowing more about where I lived in my first year, watch
I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying: “All good things must come to an end.” That perfectly sums up my year at Sigmaplantsoen. It was an amazing experience, but it did have to come to an end (I blame my fixed, 1-year contract). As soon as I got my DUWO place, I was already fearing the inevitable: having to find a place to stay on my own - without the help of my university. I was able to postpone this a tiny bit by going to study abroad in Liverpool for a year. And no, I did not intentionally choose to study abroad to avoid looking for a place in Leiden, but I definitely was not complaining when I was offered a place on campus in student accommodation in Liverpool. Finding housing in Leiden had become a future-me problem. But I had to confront future-me and her problems quite soon when I decided to come back to the Netherlands for my master’s degree a year later. Like I said, “all good things must come to an end.”
So, how did I find a place in Leiden all by myself? It ended up not being by myself at all, but with the help of my friends and community. I reached out to friends and connections that I had made in the Netherlands (even people who I had only spoken to once before). I let them know I was looking for housing and asked them to message me if they heard of anyone moving out. Apart from just messaging people, I also posted on my Instagram story (more about this below). One of the people that I texted was a girl that I had met during (online) OWL in 2020. She told me that someone from her study programme was moving out of her room and sent me her classmate’s number. So, I messaged her classmate on WhatsApp, and she shared her landlord’s contact information with me. I would like to say the rest is history, but unfortunately, there’s more to the story. I was on summer vacation in Turkey at the time (so yes, I was doing all of this during my vacation when I literally would have rather been doing anything else), so a friend of mine went to a viewing of the room and sent me pictures and videos afterwards. The landlord had mentioned that he was showing the room to three other girls, but that's the part I tried not to dwell on too much. A couple of days after the viewing, he told me that he had selected someone else for the room. I cried for a week, feeling desperate, now more than ever, because I had thought that this was going to work out for sure. Just as I was losing hope, about a week later, the landlord messaged me again saying that another room in the house had become available, because the girl who was going to move in was not able to anymore. He said that he was going to put the room on Kamernet, but before he did that, he wanted to show me the room to see if I was interested (so I guess I had left a pretty good impression on him!). We scheduled a video call, and when he asked me if I wanted the room, I immediately said “yes!” (this is how quickly I hope to reply when I one day receive a marriage proposal).
So, that’s how I found my room! I live in a house with three other girls, and they’re all so lovely. In the end, it all worked out – as it always does. Make sure to check out the tips that my friends and I have for students looking for housing by themselves:
Tips:
- Set aside some time: Commit to looking for a place for a specific period of time, such as a week, where all you did is eat, sleep, and scroll on housing platforms and groups. My friend found his place this way, and it took him less than a week. The housing market is so dynamic and moves so fast that there are new places available all the time. It's all about timing and luck. If you are one of the first people to respond to an advert, you may be invited to a viewing, and then may be offered a contract. See where I’m going with this?
- Post, post, post: Let people know you’re looking for housing by posting on your Instagram story. This is what I did when I was looking for a place, and I received so many more replies than I thought I would! In my post, I included a picture of myself alongside a small description detailing my age, ethnicity, study programme and a list of hobbies. Also, don’t forget to ask your friends to share your post on their stories too, so that you have a wider reach. You never know who might reach out to you!
- Prepare a text beforehand: This can save you a lot of time. Prepare a text stating your name, age, study programme, and include a couple of sentences about your personality. You can just copy and paste this text every time you are replying to a different housing advert or sending an email. Remember, make it personalized, but don’t make it too long.
- Please, please, please, be careful: Scams are real. I’ve heard too many of my friends say that they have gotten scammed, and my circle isn’t even that big. I know it’s a difficult and exhausting process to find housing, but don’t let your common sense fly out the window!
- An oldie but a goldie: Start as early as you can.
