Students need to meet certain requirements, so please check whether you are eligible for student housing.

Priority for students who started their studies online in 2020-2021

Students who started their studies online in the academic year 2020-2021 and who are still in their home country will be given the opportunity to apply for UvA Housing with priority. This means that these students' applications are handled before those of new first year students.

The Executive Board of the UvA has made this decision based on the fact that these students have already started and invested time and effort into their study programme. Additionally, they have experienced a very challenging year during this COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, UvA believes it is important to assist this group of students so they can continue their studies successfully when they arrive in Amsterdam.

This decision unfortunately means there will be fewer rooms available for newly arriving first year Bachelor and Master students. We therefore strongly advise first year students to prepare for finding accommodation independently, next to their UvA housing application. Don't underestimate this, finding a room in Amsterdam can be difficult but it is not impossible if you start early.

We will pay extra attention to informing students on how to find housing independently. To this end, 2 webinars will be hosted soon in which tips to find housing will be shared, and in which students will have the opportunity to ask questions. More information about the webinars will be published here.

NB: Students that started in the academic year 2020-2021 who are already in the Netherlands or who already received housing through the UvA-even if they cancelled their contract during the academic year 2020-2021, are unfortunately not eligible to apply for UvA Housing.

In May or June, you will receive a message from myinfo@uva.nl* with an invitation to apply for student housing. The message contains some application instructions and the link to the housing application system. Check the date when to expect the message and when your housing application link will be activated.

The message from myinfo@uva.nl will be automatically sent to the email address you registered with for your UvA study program. We recommend you to add myinfo@uva.nl to the 'safe senders' list of your email account. If you don't receive the message with the application link and check your spam filter on the given day, please contact the International Student Housing Office as soon as possible.

* myinfo@uva.nl is a 'no-reply' email address.

Clicking on the link in the invitation email will take you to our online application form. In the application form you will be asked to choose a monthly budget category. Base your choice on the information about budget categories and room types. Requesting a specific housing provider, location or building is unfortunately not possible.

You need to apply as soon as possible, as we work on a first come, first served basis.

Your chances of receiving a room offer will significantly decrease the longer you wait. Apply right away: there is no need to wait until your study enrollment has been finalised or your visa procedure approved. If you wait it might be too late to secure housing through UvA.

Once you have completed the form, you will automatically be sent to the only payment page. Follow the instructions to pay the UvA Housing fee. You can pay in euros by either a credit card or by PayPal. Other payment methods are unfortunately not possible.

After submitting your housing application and paying the UvA housing fee, check your email daily to find out if you’ve been selected for student housing. This can take some time. Once you have been selected, you will first receive a message from myinfo@uva.nl. After that, you will receive an offer from either booking platform ROOM.nl or one of our other housing providers, to book your accommodation within a given time frame. Check your spam folder!

It can take several days to a few weeks to appropriate students to accommodations, as this process is quite extensive. Therefore, not all students will receive a room offer on the same day, nor will it necessarily be in the same order as students applied. However, once you have received the offer, it is important to proceed with step 6 as soon as possible.

If you receive a room offer, follow the instructions to confirm (you cannot change the room or location offered). You will be given a very short time frame of a few days to book your room. If you fail to respond by the given date, you may lose the room. The UvA housing fee will not be refunded in this case.

Be aware that many students are booking a room at the same time. The availability can decline rapidly, even in the given booking time frame. You will only get one chance to reserve a room. If you miss this offer, you will be put back at the end of the waiting list.

After accepting your accommodation offer, your housing provider will inform you either by email or through your housing account about your tenancy agreement and further procedures. Sign and return your tenancy agreement according to the instructions given by the housing provider.

Your room reservation is confirmed once you make your first payment to the housing provider. Instructions for making this payment will be provided by the housing partner. Be prepared: this initial payment can be a significant amount of money, as it will include administration costs, the first month's rent, and often a deposit.

Please note that room reservations are final. You cannot change rooms after you have made the reservation. If you cancel a reserved room, we assume you are no longer interested in UvA student housing. You will not be offered another room and the UvA housing fee will unfortunately not be refunded.

Check the page about arriving in Amsterdam for more information and the exact dates.

What happens if I don’t get a room offer?

Once you have applied for student housing you are added to the waiting list. All rooms are offered to students on the waiting list, but not all applicants exercise their option to book their room, or cancel their room. The room will then be offered to the next match on the waiting list. This means the waiting list remains open, so that rooms might become available again.

How do I know where I am on the waiting list?

We can't give your exact place on it, as there are several factors:

• Time on the waiting list
• Budget category
• 1 or 2 semester rental period
• Gender (accommodations with roommates)
• Availability of rooms

What can I do while on the waiting list?

Keep looking for housing. If you find a place by yourself, cancel your housing request via the stop button on your personal page on MyInfo to receive a refund of your Housing Fee. This does not happen automatically and this way we can keep our waiting list up to date and make other students happy with your spot.

We strongly advise you to also register on Dutch student housing websites (ROOM, Studentenwoningweb) long before your arrival in Amsterdam (as soon as you have registered for your degree programme). Registration on these sites is an important backup measure if UvA is unable to provide you with a room and/or it will prepare you for finding housing after your first year.

What if I decide to cancel my study enrollment?

If you cancel your study enrollment, please also cancel your housing application. You can cancel your housing request yourself via the stop button on your personal page on MyInfo. In case you have already received a room offer, you need to notify the housing office of your wish to cancel your housing request. This way we can keep our waiting list up to date and make other students happy with your spot.