Let’s share this you with honesty from the very beginning. Housing is NOT provided by universities in the Netherlands, and it is a student’s responsibility to find housing on their own, either in a shared apartment, a studio, a private dormitory, etc. in their study destination. The Netherlands has major housing crises, so beware and start looking as early as possible. For this reason, finding housing in the Netherlands can be quite challenging, especially in a super-student city like Groningen. Many students consider the Dutch housing market expensive, but it of course depends on your own personal budget.

Research process

We are including below some advice forwarded by the Euroculture team in Groningen on finding housing in Groningen:

• Start looking early and be proactive! You are recommended to start looking for housing as of right now to make sure it gets done in-time! Be sure to keep looking actively.
• Look at multiple different sources! You are suggested to keep looking at multiple resources regularly.
• Look outside the city centre as well! Room prices in the city centre are quite high, but there are rooms available throughout the region of Groningen. This might mean you need to consider additional travel time with public transport or a bicycle.
• Be careful! Scammers exist on major housing groups on Facebook, such as: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1403096933323844/. While not everyone is a scammer, you should always be very careful with transferring money or sensitive information in advance of your studies.

<aside> 💡 Here we are also attaching a pdf file created by the Euroculture team in Groningen, including up-to-date housing platforms, websites and providers you might want to consider during your search for housing in Gruh (yep, it’s Groningen for sort, you might not see this often, but just fyi).

Housing Market Information.pdf

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Living

• Registration (and deregistration) process
• Another tip, more so like a fact, is that the positive thing about living in the Netherlands is the language. Most times, EVERYONE speaks very, very good English wherever you go. And for the most part, they’re pretty willing to assist you, for example, at shops or even the university offices. Dutch is also widely spoken in the city, but you can navigate your way around pretty easily!
• The University of Groningen itself is - and repeat after us - a very, very big university with many buildings spread out around the city. See here some buildings in which you could expect to have your classes.
  • Harmony Building (most frequent, Euroculture office is also here)
  • Aweg Building
  • Oude Boteringestraat
• Another tip about living in the Netherlands is that, if you want to buy an alcoholic drink of any sort from any supermarket, you HAVE to have your ID with you, to show it to the cash register or the wandering employees. Bear in mind that some bars or clubs will ask you to show your ID too. If you don’t have it physically, digital might work, but not that often.
• Biking 🚲