What’s Available

If you're considering renting in the Netherlands, but want to rent a place which is below the average rent cost, there are some points to consider:

• Minimum prices for one-bedroom apartment in Amsterdam have recently increased to €1800-2000(excl. utilities). Utrecht is around €1600-1800, and rent in The Hague and Rotterdam typically costs €1400-1600.

Properties priced lower are either

1. in very poor conditions
2. are from housing corporations, that don’t accept expats. They often come without flooring, and to apply, you'll need a BSN, DigiD and 3 months of payslips from a Dutch employer.
3. are social housing(reserved for low income groups of people, seniors etc)
4. do not meet the required number of points to be in the free sector

Renting a Room

If you're looking to rent a comfortable place in a nice area and save significantly, rooms are a great option. You can either team up with a friend or colleague and search together or find vacant rooms online and move in.

What to expect when renting a room?

To find a room you normally have to be already in the Netherlands and come to a viewing in person. If you view a room remotely you risk being scammed, because how can you trust it? Anyone can show you a videotour of the apartment and tell you the room is yours as long as you pay a down payment.

There are almost no regulated websites where one can rent a room- it has to be done via Kamernet, Facebook etc. You have to be very careful, as anyone can pretend to be a tenant.

You might not always get a new contract if you rent a room, so you don’t have tenancy protection, only the main tenant is on the contract in most cases, and if they want to move out you’re again going to need to look for something else. Usually, one person is moving out, and they're looking for a replacement. But obviously in this case you have zero choice about who to live with. Your roommate will be a stranger and if they have bad hygiene or make noises during the night, you will have no way of protecting yourself from this.

Searching with a friend can be much more challenging for two reasons:

Renting an apartment with a friend/colleague

What to expect when renting an apartment?

When renting an entire 2 bedroom apartment, prices will be higher in newer contracts, unlike older ones that have been continuously occupied for a couple of years already, with only roommates changing.

Not all apartments allow sharing, but quite a few still do. Usually the owners allow sharing when rent is too expensive for 1 person/ couple to afford - especially in less desirable locations. For eg. it’s standard to see apartments that allow sharing in Amsterdam to cost €2400 - €3000 excl utilities. For 1 couple paying 2500-2800 in rent might be a lot, but for 2 sharers it’s €1200-1500 each, which is more doable.

If you don’t have any friend/colleague you could share an apartment with- Relocify can help you to match up and search for a larger apartment for you two.