More International Students in the Netherlands Are Facing Housing Abuses, Student Union Warns
Reports to the union's Housing Hotline range from online fraud and bedbug infestations to rooms with no windows, no contract and sky-high rents.
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Housing problems among international students in the Netherlands are getting worse, according to the Landelijke Studentenvakbond (LSVb), the national student union. The union bases its warning on 263 requests for help that reached its Housing Hotline, an advice line for international students, this year.
What students are reporting
The reports cover a wide range of problems, from illegal lettings and unhygienic rooms to online fraud. Some students described living in rooms without heating, a working sink or windows. Others paid large deposits for rooms they found online, only to discover they had been scammed. The union says many did not dare to ask for help, or did not know how to.
The LSVb received several examples of distressing living situations. One student said they live in a small, windowless room with a hole in the wall, without an official rental contract, for €725 a month. Another, quoted by RTV Utrecht, said a housemate had been bitten by bedbugs in her bed; according to the student, the rental company and the landlord did not respond when contacted.
Why internationals are especially at risk
International students are often more exposed than Dutch students, the union says. They usually cannot fall back on a parental home nearby, and they tend to know less about local rules and where to turn for support. “Students often don’t really know where to get help,” said Maaike Krom, who currently chairs the LSVb, in comments to AD. Out of desperation, she said, some students accept whatever they can find, which gives scammers room to take advantage.
Evy Kras, who takes over as the union’s chair at the end of June, links the problem to the wider housing shortage. “The problem is partly caused by the severe housing shortage. International students are therefore forced to choose landlords who break almost every rule,” she said.
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Fewer places to turn for help
The union says the situation has been made worse by the disappearance of so-called huurteams (rental teams) in university cities such as Utrecht and Rotterdam. These teams inform Dutch and international students about their rights and can spot problems on the rental market at an early stage.
“Rental rights on paper often do not yet mean rental rights in practice,” Kras said. She called the teams essential for students trying to challenge unfair situations, and said cutting them during a housing crisis was hard to justify. The LSVb wants universities and colleges to do more to inform international students about their rights and where they can go for help.
A shrinking international student population
The warning comes as the government has spent several years trying to reduce the number of international students in the Netherlands. Recently, that number fell for the first time in two decades. Some institutions, including in Amsterdam and Utrecht, have advised prospective international students not to come if they have not arranged a place to live.
Where to get help
For students who are struggling, there are formal routes. The Housing Hotline offers internationals advice on spotting scams and on checking whether a rent is lawful. Most student rooms in the Netherlands have a maximum legal rent, set through a national points system that scores a room on features such as size and facilities. Tenants who believe they are being overcharged can ask the Huurcommissie, the national rent tribunal, to assess the rent and, where appropriate, lower it.