How to find a room as a student?

There are 30 EEA countries:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden

Are you a non-EEA student, and do you require a visa? If you meet the conditions below, UT offers you a room for one year.

• you need an entry visa and/or a residence permit
• you will join the UT for the first time 
• you currently don’t live in the Netherlands.

You will rent this room for one year through UT. Please bear in mind that UT does not offer housing services for families. For example, if you are looking for a house or flat instead of a room, we recommend you look at our links for finding housing (see EEA students).

Since, as a non-EEA student, you need an entry visa and/or residence permit, UT wants to offer you extra help in your search for a room. That is why you will see the tab 'special offer UT' in the online portal Roomspot, which is exclusively available for non-EEA students. As soon as we have received and registered the payment of your entry visa, tuition fee, and bank statement, you will be informed by e-mail on which date the special offer access will become available to you.

After 1 August/16 January, we cannot provide you with a guaranteed housing offer.

If you would like to find accommodation on campus or near our university, create an account at Roomspot, the online housing portal for the cities of Enschede and Hengelo. Here, you can find the current housing offers and apply for the accommodation you are interested in. You can make an account at Roomspot and respond to room offers anytime.

Veste Wonen is the on-campus housing provider and offers furnished as well as unfurnished rooms (co-optation). Our Housing team only mediates for the furnished rooms. For the exact location of the accommodation offered by de Veste, please see the campus map.

Veste Wonen offers a variety of rooms in an accommodation group, either with or without private bathroom and kitchen facilities. Apartments and studio flats are also equipped with private bathrooms and kitchen facilities (for couples only). One-room apartments have shared bathroom facilities and a private kitchen. All accommodation has a personal fridge available, and electricity, water, gas, as well as a wired internet connection are included in the rent prices. The rent prices depend on the type of accommodation, ranging from €350 - €550 for a room and €600 - €700 for a two-room apartment.

All rooms available can be found and applied for via Roomspot. These types of accommodation can be categorised as follows:

Since you, as a non-EU/EEA exchange student, need an entry visa and/or residence permit, UT wants to offer you extra help in your search for a room. UT will mediate once in your accommodation through a guaranteed booking in Boulevard 1945 (formerly ITC International Hotel). These rooms are exclusively available for non-EU/EEA exchange students. 

Duration of your stay

The contract dates are fixed and depend on the duration of your exchange. For the first semester, contracts will start as of 16 August, and for the second semester, 01 February. The exact dates will be mentioned in your offer.

Deadline

The deadline to secure your Boulevard 1945 room for the September (first semester) intake is 31 July, and for the February (second semester) intake, 15 January. After the deadline, we cannot provide you with a guaranteed housing offer anymore.

If you are not interested in a room at Boulevard 1945, you must find accommodation yourself. Please be aware that finding housing for a short period is a challenge. 

The Boulevard 1945 is located in the city centre of Enschede, approximately 15 minutes from the UT campus, by bike or public transportation.

The shops, market, post office, and railway station are within walking distance. The (partly-)furnished rooms with balconies have a private bathroom and shared kitchen facilities. These living spaces include extras such as a telephone for internal calls, a private refrigerator, and a wired internet connection. WiFi is available throughout the building. 

All rooms available are listed on Roomspot. In addition to UT students, PhD students with a scholarship can book a room in the Boulevard 1945. 

Accommodation

The bed and living room are all in 1 room.

• Private bathroom
• Shared kitchen with 13 other tenants
• 18 m²

Rent

The monthly rent is approximately €555 (GWE included).

Inventory list

• bed
• mattress
• bed light
• writing desk
• desk chair
• desk lamp
• refrigerator
• bulletin board
• chair
• litter basket
• bookcase
• wardrobe

We advise you to keep an eye on the websites Roomspot, Student Union Kamersite, Kamernet, and Pararius. These websites are updated with rooms regularly, and you can filter on price, location, room size, and much more. 

• Roomspot
• Student Union Kamersite
• Kamernet
• Pararius 

You can also check out Huurwoningen.nl, Kamersenschede.nl or social media platforms such as the UT Market Place Facebook. Please be aware that we are not direct partners of these national platforms, and we cannot guarantee the quality and reliability of the rooms.

Other useful links

• Plaza Residences 
• Hospi Housing
• Domica
• Smart Wonen
• OnlyExpat
• Xior (note: select in the filter "Without code")
• Stegehuis - find a room or house in Gronau (Germany)
• VPS (only in Dutch)

Register for housing platforms

We advise you to keep an eye on the online portals Roomspot, Student Union Kamersite, Kamernet and Pararius. These websites are updated with rooms regularly and you can filter on price, location, room size, and much more. You can also check out Huurwoningen.nl and Kamersenschede.nl or social media platforms like Facebook. Please be aware that we are no direct partners of these national platforms, and we cannot guarantee the quality and reliability of the rooms.

Start on time

The sooner you start your house hunting, the sooner you can start finding your accommodation. We advise you to start your house hunting in May for the September intake. When you start to search for accommodation early, you have more chances of finding housing before the start of your studies. Don't worry if you can't find housing immediately after you start your search. Sometimes it may take up to two months before you find something suitable.

Find housing before the start of your studies

Studying at a university might be completely new for you, or even moving to a new country can be overwhelming. To ensure a smooth start to your student life at the University of Twente, you should arrange accommodation before the start of your studies.

Be realistic in your wishes

Who wouldn’t like to live in a three-bedroom apartment with a nice view over the city? Sometimes it’s better to accept a housing offer when it comes along and search from there. Once you’re living in the area, you can use your newly built network to search for accommodation better suited to your personal preferences.

Watch out for scammers

Don’t be too picky, but watch out for scammers as well. A lot of different tricks are being used, mostly trying to take advantage of the fact that people are not able to come and check out the property in person. Red flag alerts:

• The landlord says he stays abroad for the moment and asks you to send the money to a foreign account
• The landlord asks for your credit card number
• The landlord says he cannot show you the accommodation, but he'll send you the keys once the deposit is transferred
• The rental price is considerably lower than other similar accommodations in the area
• You cannot register yourself for the address of the accommodation at the municipality.

Download the Goin' app

Would you like to get in touch with other first-year students at UT before you even arrive in Enschede? You can do so via the app Goin'. You will be invited to the Goin' app. Goin' is a social platform where you can meet both other new students and students already in the UT community. The mobile app helps you connect with students who are, for example, looking for a flatmate.

You can register in Roomspot to find accommodation that is most suitable to you. Please inform UT Housing of this situation, so they can advice you about housing. You can contact UT Housing via studentservices@utwente.nl.   

Through Roomspot you have the option of co-optation (room application). This is one of the accommodation options. With room application, students live together and share communal areas such as the living room, kitchen and bathroom/shower. Many flats eat and cook together, play games in the evenings, go clubbing or do other things as a group. In short: they spend a lot, maybe even the major part of their free time together. A good fit is thus important and therefore students select their own flat mates. The selection procedure, known as room application (Dutch: coöptatie/hospiteren), aims to ensure a good fit. This process is not organized by UT, but by the flat inhabitants themselves. In most cases, flats will invite you (or even a couple of students interested in a room at once) for a meeting in order to get to know you. After that, they decide as a group who they would like to offer the room to and will let you know whether you can move in or not. Don’t be afraid to reject the room yourself if you cannot picture yourself living in a particular flat and don’t feel down if a flat rejects you. Most students visit several flats before they find what they are looking for. If it’s not possible for you to visit the flat beforehand, ask the flat for a meeting via videochat. More information is available at https://su.utwente.nl/en/rooms/ 

Coming to a different country can be exciting, but challenging. The same goes for finding housing before the start of your studies. You might be used to a system where the responsibility of finding housing lies with the university. An important distinction between finding housing in the Netherlands or in other countries is that in the Netherlands, you are expected to find your own accommodation. The housing office at UT can in some cases play a mediating role, but chances are you will have to look for accommodation yourself. The Erasmus Student Network provides a housing guide with tips, tricks, and information for (prospective) students to keep in mind while finding housing in the Netherlands. Take a look at their website to check what applies to you.

It is advisable to consider the guaranteed housing offer you get carefully. We cannot guarantee a new offer if you reject the offer. Please consider this when rejecting offers. 

Sometimes, it's better to accept a housing offer when it comes along and search from there. Once you live in the area, you can use your newly built network to search for accommodation better suited to your personal preferences. 

Depending on your situation, you can apply for a housing benefit. For more information check this website. 

You will find information about where you can pick up your keys in your booking confirmation. Please note: make sure you also meet the payment criteria for housing mentioned in your booking (on-campus accommodation only). 

The cancellation policy for your booking may differ per rental agency. Please contact your rental agency for more information regarding their cancellation policy. 

If you have a physical, sensory, or other functional limitation that affects your housing needs, there are possibilities for tailored accommodation. UT collaborates with housing providers such as Veste Wonen and Boulevard 1945 to help find suitable rooms or facilities when possible.

We strongly advise you to contact the housing providers or the Student Guidance & Well-being (SGW) department as early as possible (preferably before your arrival) to discuss your specific situation. SGW can talk through your needs, provide advice, and help coordinate if special arrangements are required.

Living with other students can be a great experience. You can share the rent and hang out with each other. Usually, there are two options for student houses: 

• Fully shared: you have your own bedroom, but share a bathroom (toilet and shower), kitchen and living room.
• Partly shared: next to your bedroom, you have your private bathroom, and share the kitchen and communal space. 
• Living with a host or guest family: staying with a host or guest family will give you a soft landing in a new city, and is the perfect way to get in touch with Dutch culture and language. You will have your private room and shared facilities like a kitchen and bathroom.

When you live alone, you are completely in control of everything that goes on in your apartment. If you have lived at home all your life, this kind of freedom can take some time to get used to. It’s your place, your rules. You are not responsible for anyone and don’t have to share anything.

The vast majority of Dutch students rent rooms in a student house on campus or in Enschede or a nearby city. Sometimes you live together with up to 18 people, although there are also plenty of groups for five or more. In the city, you usually live with two to six people. So when you start looking for a room, you can look both on campus and in the city.

On campus or in Enschede or a nearby city, you can also live on your own in your own flat or self-contained room.