Social Housing

The UvA arranges long-term housing for selected groups of international grant-holder (PhD) students, Bachelor's and Master's students. Students can apply for this type of housing through the faculty or institute where they are enrolled. Please note that eligibility for this type of housing varies per faculty and there may be a waiting list.

International Student Affairs, in association with housing cooperation De Alliantie, provides Master's and grant-holder students with long-term social housing in the Indische Buurt and Reigersbos districts of Amsterdam.

Most apartments are typically Dutch, with a living room facing the street, two bedrooms and a kitchen. Around 120 students are currently accommodated in these apartments, each occupying their own private room and sharing facilities with one other student.

The leases for these rooms always end on 30 August. As this project tries to cater to students wanting long-term accommodation, stays shorter than one year (with a lease ending before 30 August) are not possible.

Two-room apartments are available as well. These apartments will be available to students who prefer to live alone or with a partner. Currently 100 students are occupying studios and two-room apartments.

The rooms or flats available with de Alliantie are not equipped with internet.

Housing cooperation Het Ymere also offers private rooms with facilities, shared with one other person. These are located in or near the city centre.

These are in the popular neigbourhoods are Staatliedenbuurt, Nieuwmarkt, Dapperbuurt and de Pijp. Most rooms although not all are equipped with internet.

In order to qualify for these project s you must be:

• studying at one of the faculties or institutes mentioned below;
• Bachelor's, Master's, 1st year PhD students or grant-holder students at the UvA.

Unfortunately it is not possible to see any of the apartments in advance.

Combined Dutch and international student housing project

In September 2007, UvA and Ymere took a further step towards formalizing their collaboration to provide student housing. A pilot project has been created in three houses where international Bachelor's, Master's and PhD students are accommodated alongside Dutch students.

The atmosphere in these houses is peaceful and pleasant. Students get to know each other and form a community, and the Dutch students help the international students integrate into Dutch life. The project will continue until 2012. Rents range from €300 to €540 depending on the size of the room.

Commercial Housing

In Amsterdam you are not considered eligible for social housing if you are earning above € 33.000,00 a year.

As the groups, PhD students and Postdoc's earnings in most cases surpasses this limit, the UvA has started up new projects to cater better for these groups.

Both groups will be able to stay for the length of their research.

The flats will be let empty, allowing for each researcher to fit the flat up to his own personal taste.

The UvA will arrange for curtains and floor covering.

The quality of these houses are higher, the rent between € 1400 - € 1700 for three or four room flats and a room in such a flat will cost somewhere between € 490 - € 700 per month.

IMPORTANT

Once you have signed a contract with any housing- corperation it is important to register with the municipality of Amsterdam, when you leave take the time to unregister as well, this can be done through the internet, if you have a digid-code.

If students don't take the trouble to do this it could result in serious problems for the themselves or the successor, depending individually upon their financial situation.

Please note that the municipality of Amsterdam automatically sends students invoices for yearly municipal taxes.When you receive such an assessement, undertake immediate action. Even if the assessement is addressed to the previous leaser it is a necessity to get your own application started up immediately.

 International students do not need to pay these taxes but if they want to request an exception, they are themselves responsible for completing an exemption form within six weeks.The student has, if he receives an assessement, to ask for the form "Verzoek om kwijtschelding"(=Request for remission).

These forms are in Dutch and must be filled out in Dutch, so you may need to ask for assistance. Your faculty can provide you with the translation of the exemption form making it easier for you to fill out. Please contact them for more information. If you want help filling out the remission form make an appointment with student dean mr. Piet Schoemaker through 525 8080.

More information

The participating faculties and institutions are:

• Faculty of Economics and Business
• RESAM
• Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Reseach Institute Pscyhology
• AISSR
• ASCoR
• Faculty of Science (Master's and PhD students only)
• Faculty of Humanities (PhD or research masters)
• NIN

Please contact your faculty or institute for further information.