Click on a link below for more information:

General information
ASVA room mediation
Rooms on offer
Other housing possibilities

Finding suitable accommodation in Amsterdam can be quite difficult even for native students. Be aware that there are people who want to profit from the housing shortage. Below you can find some expressions you will come across when looking for a room and their meaning and implications. Please note that the page automatically scrolls up when you click on a word, you will need to scroll down again to view the explanation.

ASVA room mediation is probably the oldest ASVA service around: we have been mediating between landlords and students since 1945. We do not work with a waiting list, instead we organize a ‘lottery’ for every available room. Every ASVA member can participate in these lotteries.

Lottery?
If you are looking for a room in Amsterdam you can check our list of rooms. If there is a room you like, you can sign up for the lottery through e-mail or by phone. After the lottery, four applicants will receive the full name and address of the landlord or –lady in order to make an appointment to check out the room. The landlord or –lady will then decide to whom the room will be let.

If you are one of the lucky applicants to check out the room, you can collect the address at the ASVA student desk. On the reverse side of the form you will find a short questionnaire through which you can provide feedback. For the form with the address, a 5 Euro deposit is required. This amount will be given back to you if you fill out the questionnaire and return the form.

For practical reasons it is not possible to participate in the lottery from abroad. There are too many obstacles like the impossibility to view the room and paying difficulties. On the bright side: this system allows you to possibly find a room quickly so in the mean time you could stay at a hostel or other temporary address. Check ‘Other housing possibilities’ for short stay addresses.

ASVA student desk
UvA Service- & Information Centre, counter 7
Binnengasthuisstraat 9
1012 ZA Amsterdam
Telephone: +31 (0)20 525 29 26
E-mail: studentenbalie@ASVA.nl
Opening hours: On working days from 12:30 pm till 4:00 pm

The rooms we have on offer, vary from day to day. Some rooms are temporary (although we do keep a three month minimum), some are in student houses but most are with a landlord- or lady. All rooms are legal, which means you can register it as your official address at the Amsterdam municipality.

Click here for a list of the rooms we have on offer at this moment.

Short stay
Looking for a room is difficult from abroad. You will have to check the room, sign contracts, pay fees and so on. It may be best to initially book a room or bed in a hostel. You can also try to arrange a temporary address, through family or friends in Amsterdam. Check with the university or college where you will be enrolling if they have a list of possible host families or other facilities. Check the links below for more information.

Youth hostels and temporary apartments

• Shelter.nl
  Website with Christian hostels in Amsterdam, which are cheap and safe places to stay. You can book a bed in single sex dorms accommodating 4 to 20 people. Check their website for prices and booking a bed online.
• Hostels Amsterdam
  Look for hostels and other types of accommodation in Amsterdam through this website.
• Casamundo
  Website where you can rent apartment in Amsterdam up to one month.

More info

• International Student Network (ISN)
  The International Student Network Amsterdam is a useful organisation to get in touch with. They have very helpful information about all the things that you will most likely come across as an international student.
• University of Amsterdam
  The University of Amsterdam (UvA) offers quite some information for international students, also useful if you are enrolling at another institution for higher education.

Privately owned rooms
Check the links below for places where you can look for rooms.

• SRVU room agency (kamerbureau)
  There is one other non-profit letting agency in Amsterdam. The SRVU kamerbureau works in roughly the same way that ASVA does. Choose ‘Hoe werken wij?’ in the ‘Kamerbureau’-menu or call: +31 (0)20 598 94 24.
• Room adverts online
  There are several websites where private owners offer rooms to let. Beside the difficulty that the adverts are in Dutch, you will need to be aware that it is possible that the advertiser may have bad intentions. Unfortunately there are those that whish to profit from the housing shortage in Amsterdam. Nonetheless, these websites are very useful, especially if you can solicit some help from a Dutch speaking friend.

  Kamernet (English explanation)
  Op kamers (Dutch only)
  Studentenkamers.nl (Dutch only)

• International room adverts online
  Below are two links to websites where you can get in touch with other international students and possibly find accommodation:

  Casaswap
  Gabinohome