Types of accommodation
How do students live in Maastricht? Do we have US-style campus dorms, and frats and sorority houses? Does everyone live in one of those tall, crooked and picturesque Dutch houses? Read on to find out!
University dorms
As the name suggests, these are classic university-style dorms. You usually share the kitchen, toilet, shower (and possibly even your room) with other students. You’ll likely throw house parties and meet lots of people and make great friends – the quintessential student lifestyle. However, we do university dorms a little differently here: there’s no campus, and the dorm buildings are spread out through the city. A great way to really get in touch with the local Maastricht life!
The only university-affiliated housing in the city is the UM Guesthouse, which can be found on Maastricht Housing. They are the official student housing platform of the university and their website is a great place to start your search. They have a broad range of different housing options for students. You can also rest assured that you won’t get scammed. If you want them to help you with your search, you must sign up and pay a one-time fee. This will grant you access to their range of offers.
Maastricht housing offers rooms that are available through both private landlords and housing agencies. For private landlords, they might hold a “viewing evening”. This is where you and a few other people who have also applied get invited to look around. You can meet the other people living there, and they get to decide who they would choose. This can be a little scary, but smile and be yourself and it will all be ok! For more tips, you can check out this blog post.
Student houses
These are private houses (sometimes even the crooked Dutch ones!) that have been split up into many rooms. You usually rent out a room and share all other facilities with the rest of the people in the house – how many people you share with will depend on the size of the house and the number of facilities. Some student houses have more than one kitchen, as well as a few toilets and bathrooms. Some even have a common living or dining room. They’re usually very social places, and many students opt for them, but bear in mind that you can’t usually choose the people you live with – if you’re lucky, though, you can find student houses offering more than one room, and so you could move in with a friend.
Independent accommodation
Independent accommodation refers to properties with their own front door and private facilities (i.e. your own kitchen, bathroom and toilet), such as studios and apartments. Independent accommodation tends to be more expensive than shared housing (although you can find some good deals out there), and while you benefit from having privacy and independence, it’s less social than a student house or university accommodation.
Shared apartments
If you already know the people you would like to live with, it’s possible to find an apartment with them. This is a great option, as it’s both affordable and social, but start looking early, as it can be hard to find a place that meets all your requirements. 2-4 bedroom apartments are most common, so keep this in mind when deciding how many people you’d like to live with.
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences housing
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences also offers short-stay accommodation for incoming exchange students in two locations in Maastricht. These shared accommodations are provided on a first come, first served basis. If there are additional rooms available, regular international students can also join the waitlist. You can find more information about Zuyd housing here.
