Finding housing is a big challenge for every student in Delft. For international students, the choice is even more limited. The university provides housing options but these come with many conditions. Therefore, every student in Delft must at some point, look for their own room. There are several resources on the internet with links to different housing services. For example, the TUDelft’s webpage lists many reputable housing agencies. The goal of this webpage set up by the Delft International Student Society is to provide advice from students that live in Delft and that can give insider knowledge on how to have more chances to get into a student house here in Delft.
DUWO / University Housing
For first year international students, the university collaborates with the rental agency DUWO to provide student housing. It is highly recommended to apply for this housing as this is the only stress-free way to get into a house from abroad. The rental periods are as follows:
1 year maximum for Bsc students
2 years maximum for Msc students
These contracts are not extendable under any conditions and after this period, the student will have to find another room with other means.
This housing portal is only available for incoming students from abroad that will start their 1st year bachelors or masters degree. This service is only available when enrolling for the university on the osiaan.tudelft.nl page. This service is provided by the TUDelft and there is a cost to apply.
There are only a limited amount of rooms available from the University service and the selection is based on the tuition payment date. The earlier you apply, the more choice you will have. If you apply late, you might not get a room !
This is the selection of houses that are available on the service :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kNNrqkGn4i3l5MPs3F5Ar85-l7SLXhp9/view?usp=sharing
Prof. Schermerhornstraat, Michiel de Ruyterweg and Rotterdamsweg are modern buildings that have large rooms but are harder to get.
Note : Another service from DUWO is called Room.nl. It offers the same buildings as the university but selection is based on the account creation date. This basically means that the older your account is, the higher up in the selection list you are. It is nearly impossible to get housing from here if your account is less than 2-3 years old. This makes this service not suitable for internationals that are only here for a few years.
Facebook is the way most students find housing in Delft. As an international student, Facebook is one of the only options for finding a place outside of the main providers (DUWO, XIOR, TSH). This process can be long and difficult but nearly all students go through it.
The ads for houses are posted by students that are searching for a new roommate or students that will be leaving their current house.
The ads are posted in the following groups :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/423432078076403
https://www.facebook.com/groups/kamer.in.delft
https://www.facebook.com/groups/delfthousing/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1646239532364241/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/469902313064678/
And other groups under “Delft Student Housing” or similar tag. It is easier to find a place as an international in a house that already has internationals. It is harder to get into a house with only dutch students. Some postings even have the “NO INTERNATIONALS” tag. You should obviously ignore these.
The first step in trying to get into one of these houses will either be to sending an email or a direct message. If you send your request, be aware that you will be one of up to 100 applicants. The housing market in Delft is very competitive.
You should try to talk about yourself in your message and introduce who you are. Short messages like the one shown on the left are often simply ignored.
Since each house has so many offers, this message looks the same as many others and this person will be filtered out from the selection.
You should talk about what your hobbies are, and make the message more personal. As the house will be going through dozens if not hundreds of applications, you want to stand out and not be filtered out from the beginning.
Longer messages are often appreciated if they give a better image of the possible new tenant. Be honest about yourself and try to be friendly. It is also a definite plus to send images of yourself.
To have a chance at finding a house, you should send this message to a lot of ads. You will most likely not get an answer from all of them.
After a week or more of sending messages, you should receive answers back, some offering a viewing or a call.
Some houses then proceed to do “instemmings’ ‘ which are house openings where the students invite you and other applicants to view the house and to introduce themselves.
In these sessions, talk to everyone that lives in the house. They will all make a decision together about their new roommate so it it is very important that everyone knows who you are.
After a few days of wait and a bit of luck, you will be selected and you can then talk about the specifics of the contract with your new roommates.
This message is too short and does not feel personal. You might want to talk a bit more about yourself.
This is a good introduction. In the selection, you will be remembered by the things you like and the things you do.