A lot of students in Maastricht advertise rooms on Facebook. It can be cool to be housemates with students who have already lived in Maastricht who can show you around the city! Rooms in shared houses are how most students live and it’s a lot cheaper than having your own studio.
There are lots of pages but try the following Facebook groups first:
- Rooms/ Kamer/ Zimmer in Maastricht
- Maastricht Te huur woningen & kamers
- Maastricht Student Housing
- Maastricht Housing
- Flat Hunting Maastricht
- Woning huren in Maastricht
Unfortunately, these pages are also the places scammers target the most. Be careful of anything that looks too good to be true. Most student houses will want to meet you first. You should always be able to look round a place before signing or paying the deposit. At minimum, ask to do a video call with the landlord whilst they’re in the property you’ll be renting. If you’re not able to go to a viewing in person, you can request UniView to go in your place. They are a Maastricht-based company that does room and apartment viewings for a small fee.
A contract should always be signed before paying the deposit, and if you’re ever asked to transfer money to a bank account with an IBAN that doesn’t begin with NL then beware. This is especially true when the IBAN isn’t from a country near the Netherlands. If you have any suspicion that your contract is a scam, book an online contract viewing with Huurteam Zuid-Limburg.
Discrimination when looking for housing
Unfortunately, discrimination when looking for housing is common. However, it does not mean that you will encounter it. Landlords have the right to choose who they take as a tenant. If you believe that you have been discriminated against, here are some actions you can take:
Police complaint
If you have grounds to believe you’re being discriminated against when searching for a room (or otherwise) you can inform the police by filling in this form (which is in Dutch, but an online translator should work fine).
Limburg anti-discrimination platform
Secondly, you can submit a report to the local platform against discrimination (website in Dutch) in the Province of Limburg if you have any discrimination complaints.
Maastricht University advisor
Lastly, students at Maastricht University can reach out to a confidential student advisor for free. As implied in the name, any information you give them will be strictly confidential. They’ll be able to help and give you advice.
