Housing Hotline

Finding a room/house in the Netherlands is a huge struggle and you are not alone in your search, there is a shortage of approximately 30.000 student dwellings nationwide. This results in a hostile housing environment for Dutch and International students alike, with many people competing for relatively few rooms. This issue is most noticeable in the Randstad, these cities are the most difficult and most competitive places to find accommodation.  Unfortunately, the LSVb itself is not a housing organization and are therefore not able to set students up directly. We hope that the following information can point you in the right direction. We have worked on a list of trustworthy websites and Facebook-groups for you to check out. We hope this is a suitable starting point. 
Also, here are our top tips to help you with your search for a room:

1. Begin your search on time – we recommend beginning at least 3 months before you need accommodation.
2. Remember that housing contracts operate on a month-by-month basis.
This means that contracts will start on the 1st of the month and end on the last day of the month. The only kind of contract that is different in this regard are campus contracts, which have a set start and end date.
3. Contact the housing corporation(s) in the city you would like to study. Those often have enough rooms and may prioritise international students.
4. Try social media for rooms. There are often Facebook-groups that have a lot of supply.
5. Expand your search radius. You may be able to find accommodation slightly further from your University if you are willing to use public transport to get to your classes. This may not be ideal – but you may find accommodation that suits your needs and budget better than something closer by.
6. Write a personal message template that you can use for many rooms. A message that stands out could make the difference as landlords often get many reactions per room.
7. Keep on trying. We know it is not what you would want to hear, but persistence is key.

The housing shortage in the Netherlands, especially for students, has created a rise in the amount of people which try to scam (especially international) students. The problems are most obvious on unmoderated platforms such as Facebook groups. We can imagine that it is difficult to determine whether an offer is legit or not. Here are some tips and tricks to avoid scams and fake offers.

What are the signs of a scam?
1. When an offer is too good to be true
The room offered to you seems very cheap and/or central. The advertiser may be very flexible regarding the start of rent, furnishing and other requests. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is!

2. The person offering the room operates from abroad
Scammers usually post in English on platforms and social media, they usually don’t speak Dutch, do not live in the Netherlands and have a foreign bank account.

3. Poor communication
The advertiser seems overly nice, ignores your questions, gives no clear answers and/or uses text-like sentences. They may also ask you to continue conversation outside the (paid) platform. 

4. Fake information
Scammers usually use photos from other ads, a stolen identity, and standard rental contracts. They may even pose as a current tenant to seem reliable. Matching interior pictures to the street or checking the images via reverse Google Image search can help out.

5. Requests for payment
Scammers will pressure you to transfer money, often via anonymous money transferring services, before a viewing. They may say that if you wait with a payment, they will offer the room to someone else. Never pay before having signed a contract.

What can you do to avoid getting scammed?
Know what to expect
Read up on the average costs for housing and the competitive viewing system. If you know what to expect of the Dutch student housing market this can help you recognize offers that are too good to be true.

Arrange a viewing
Set up a meeting and view the room in person or via video chat. If you do not live too far away, you could consider coming to the Netherlands before the start of the semester so you can attend viewings in person. If you feel unsafe to go to a viewing alone, it is not weird to bring along a friend.

Be careful on social media
Tenants often search for new housemates on social media. Scammers take advantage of this, and are especially active in housing search groups on social media like Facebook. Scammers may pose as an existing tenant or landlord.

Things you should avoid doing
Don’t make unsecure payments!
If you intend to enter into an agreement with a private person, we advise you not to make any unsecure payments in advance. If you are still looking to transfer advanced payments, know that some platforms such as Kamernet offer a secured payment service. This way your money is kept safe on a server, until after you have received the key.

Don’t share your personal data
When you respond to an ad, don’t share personal documents like copies of your passport or bank statements and credit card numbers. If you do intend to send documentation, be aware of the risks of identity theft and fraud. Also know that the Dutch Government offers an app that allows you to watermark documents and black out personal information (App store / Play Store).

Don’t communicate outside the platform
If you use a platform like airbnb, Kamernet or HousingAnywhere, make sure you do not enter into communication with the advertiser outside the platform.  If you still have further questions about a possible scam, feel free to fill in the Housing Hotline form you can find linked above.

Finding out your base rent (kale huur) price
In the Netherlands, most housing units rented out to students are technically rent controlled, many landlords however ask a rent price that technically is not allowed. The Dutch governments uses a points system to decide what a fair base rent price is. On the website of the huurcommissie (Dutch rent tribunal) you can find the necessary forms to check how many points your room or studio is worth and thus how much rent your landlord may ask for your room or studio.

If you rent a room and your rental contract started before July 1 st 2024 you can use this form.
If you rent a room and your rental contract started July 1 st 2024 or later you can use this form.
If you rent a studio apartment, you can use this form.

Lowering your renting price by consulting the Rent Tribunal
If it turns out you are paying way too much rent, we recommend you to do the following:
Ask your landlord to lower the rent price to the allowed rent price according to the point system by sending him/her a registered letter. Make a proposition to lower the rent according to the Dutch Point System and include proof of the check you performed online. Give the landlord a set amount of time to give you a reply to your letter. A reasonable amount of time would be at least five working days.

There is a reasonable chance that you will not receive a message from your landlord. Then it is time to consult the Rent Tribunal (Huurcommissie in Dutch). You can start a procedure to measure if the rent is fair. The verdict of the Rent Tribunal is legally binding. The Rent Tribunal is an ADR: an Alternative, out of court, Dispute Resolution service. It provides information, mediation and arbitrage and has the right to measure if you pay too much rent, based on the same point system linked above.

After the verdict of the Rent Tribunal/Huurcommissie
If the Huurcommissie confirms you are paying too much rent, your landlord is legally required to return the money from the months you paid too much, including service costs. Unfortunately, the Rent Tribunal cannot and will not help you with this, they can only rule that you should receive a refund. If it turns out you are paying a fair price, you will only need to pay the 25 euro administration fee to the Huurcommissie. The rent price will not be altered. Though this chance is small, as 8/10 cases presented to the Huurcommissie about rent costs have a verdict in favor of the tenant.

Important notice:
Please note that a legal proceeding with your landlord about the renting price is unfortunately not a fun thing to do. It may be frustrating taking a lot of energy from you and could result in a bad relationship with your landlord. However, you fully stand in your right and it is important that students stand up for this! If more students do this, the less likely it becomes that landlords will make a problem of it in the future. If they intimidate or otherwise threaten you about the proceeding, then contact your municipality (every municipality has a place where you can report landlords for bad behavior) or the police (depending on how serious any threats are). On a more positive note: The landlord will not be able to simply kick you out of the room because of this, as you are protected for that by law.

Your landlord must repay your deposit within 14 days at the end of the rental period, provided that the property you rented is left in accordance with the agreements or without damage. 

There is a limitative list of things for which a landlord may deduce (part of your) deposit. These are:

• Damage to the property caused by the tenant
• Late payment of rent
• Unpaid service charges
• Unpaid energy performance fee (energieprestatievergoeding)

If a deduction needs to be made the landlord must repay the remaining amount within 30 days, instead of 14. Other things such as wear and tear and damage resulting from poor or overdue maintenance by the landlord may not be deducted from the deposit by a landlord.

Has your landlord refused to repay (part of) the deposit at the end of the rental period, the first step you can take is send a formal letter requesting back (part) of your deposit. A template for such a letter can be found here. 

Has the landlord not responded to the formal letter? Then we suggest reaching out to us via the form below and we will help guide you towards possible legal action.

Proper documentation: Preventing disputes over deposits

You can prevent a dispute about the deposit with your landlord in various ways. When the lease agreement starts, make as complete an inventory of the property as possible in collaboration with your landlord. If no report is made at the start of the lease, it is expected that the property was delivered to you in a good manner. And before the lease ends, make another inventory of the property as complete as possible. This way you can prove to the landlord that you left the property in a good state.

Landlords or agencies may charge mediation fees (or brokerage costs) for a new rental property or room. Often, you do not have to pay these fees. This is because of the ban on double mediation fees. Has this happened to you? Then you can reclaim the money. 

When must a tenant pay a mediation fee?

You must pay a mediation fee when you give a mediation agency an assignment to look for a rental home or room for you. For example, you let the agency know your requirements for a property. And the agency will search for you. You agree with the agency how much you will pay them for this.

The agency may not also work for your landlord.

Double mediation costs

The agency may not charge mediation fees twice for the same property. This means that you do not have to pay a mediation fee:

• If the agency works for your landlord
• If the agency works for you and your landlord.

For example, a mediation agency offers a landlord’s property on their website and you respond. The landlord must then pay the mediation fee. Neither the mediation agency nor the landlord may charge these fees to you.

Administration costs

Sometimes the landlord or mediation agency asks you to pay mediation fees, but they call these fees differently. For example, they call it administration fees, contract fees or brokerage fees. You do not have to pay these costs if the me diation agency works for the landlord.

Do you have to pay fees and it doesn’t say what for? Ask the mediation agency or the landlord for an explanation. Do this by e-mail or letter, so that you have written proof. 

Is it not about mediation costs? Then it may only be costs for which you receive something in return. For example, the mediation agency may charge administrative costs for applying for a housing permit for you.

Reclaiming mediation costs

Did you pay mediation costs when you did not have to? Reclaim this money in time. Usually you have 5 years to reclaim the mediation fee. This period runs from the date you paid the mediation fee.

After these 5 years your claim expires. You can then no longer reclaim the mediation costs.

Mediation agency

Did you unduly pay mediation fees to the mediation agency? Ask for a refund. 

The first step in this process is to send a registered letter to the agency. Reclaim the mediation costs. Using the following example letter to reclaim the mediation costs (This letter is only available in Dutch). 

Did your landlord not respond to the letter? Please reach out to us then, in that way we can guide you towards the institutions in your area that can guide you through the steps to take legal action.