Accomodation Seekers

Useful tips

How do you search for a room?

Start your search on time.
Register at SSHN as early as possible. Registrations open on 1 November prior to your first study year.
Let everyone know that you are looking for a room. Tell friends, family, fellow students and acquaintances. Word-of-mouth is often the quickest way to find a room.
Check the private housing on our site.
Hang ads up on notice board in libraries, cafés, at your university, in supermarkets, etc. Include information about who you are, what you are looking for and your maximum rent. It is a good idea to cut some tear-off strips at the bottom of the ad with your name, email and phone number so that anyone who is interested can easily take your details with them. You can also check these notice boards for rooms to rent. Often you have to respond very quickly. If you are invited for a ‘room viewing’, keep in mind that there will be others there to view the room and meet the flatmates. The tenants will choose the person they think is most suitable for the room.
Do not be too critical. It is normal for your first room to be small. And after you have lived in a student house for a while, you may have the opportunity to move to a bigger room.
You can place an ad in a daily or weekly newspaper (for instance de Gelderlander, de Zondagskrant or de Brug). This is especially useful for finding a house share with a landlady.
There are various websites that offer student rooms or let you place your own ad such as www.kamernet.nl, www.studentenkamers.nl, www.studentopkamers.nl, www.marktplaats.nl and www.viavia.nl. There is often a large online selection of rooms, and it is important to respond quickly.
You can register with a housing agency. These do charge registration and agency fees, and rents are often a bit higher. Examples of such agencies are Direct Wonen, Rots-Vast, KBS, and Woonbureau Nijmegen. Rent prices may vary considerably. To avoid paying more than necessary, it is often advisable to first compare the various agencies.