Video student experiences: 3 housing tips from Alberto
By Luisa Fernanda
Are you worried about how to find housing in Wageningen? In the video below international student, Alberto has some useful tips for you. For example, don’t worry too much!
It looks like a hassle at first but things will work out. Wageningen is even named Netherland’s best city for student housing this year. Also, read our other blogs with more ins and outs about the different housing options in Wageningen.
What about people who don’t have social media and can’t access Facebook groups?
A lot of the ads on the housing websites ask specifically for Dutch people / Dutch-speaking applicants only. How is that not considered discriminatory? It would be like going to England as a Dutch person, looking for housing and seeing in the ads “British people only / English speakers only”. This opens up international students especially to a disadvantage.
Also, how is room.nl fair in how it distributes rooms, particularly with regards to international students? Apparently the longer you’ve been registered on the site the higher your chances. A lot of Dutch students as a result register YEARS in advance. This gives an unfair advantage to locals who get to have a higher chance of actually landing GOOD accommodation, particularly self-contained, while international students who didn’t even know such a thing existed struggle to get decent housing because even being given priority based on the fact that they are foreigners is overridden by locals who had the advantage of simply being from the Netherlands and knowing to register way earlier than foreigners.
Hi John,
Thank you for your comment. There are many other options for students who do not have social media and therefore cannot access Facebook groups. This information is listed on the housing page of Wageningen University, but you can also check the sites below:
Housing Desk
DUWO
Socius
Kamersocial.nl
Kamernet.nl
Easy Kamer
Kamertje.nl
KamersWageningen
Housing Wageningen
Rentsy
Regarding the ‘Dutch only’ ads on Facebook groups, you are right! It does put the international students at a disadvantage, and this should not be the case. Unfortunately, it is mainly private landlords that do not speak English who decide that, and we have nothing to do with housing outside of the university.
Idealis is the organization in charge of arranging housing in the area of Wageningen, and they do it via ROOM.nl. Indeed, you need to subscribe to ROOM.nl as soon as possible. That is because the earlier you register, the more chances you have to find a room before arrival. However, international students have distance priority. If you live more than 130km away from Wageningen, you’ll probably get distance priority. If this applies to you, you’ll receive an email with such an indication. If you have not received any information about it, I suggest you contact the admissions office. Self-contained rooms are in general limited, so, for now, the recommendation is to accept any offer you receive about a room and maybe once you are already in Wageningen, you can search for better/nicer options.
Best regards,
Luisa