How to find a room in Maastricht from abroad

How Maastricht's student market works

Maastricht University (UM) had 22,933 students in 2025, 61% of them international, from 128 nationalities. At Zuyd University of Applied Sciences the international share is about 11%, according to L1.

The city has nearly 20,000 student rooms and studios. More than 80% belong to private landlords and companies; the four housing corporations together own about 3,000, roughly 17% of the market. So most rooms you'll see are let by a private owner or agency, not by a corporation.

Pressure has eased compared with a few years ago. UM added nearly 1,300 students around 2020 and 2021, then growth slowed, and in 2025 student numbers fell slightly. The university now recruits less actively abroad, and since 2022 it has told students not to come without housing. But Maurice Evers of Maastricht Housing put it plainly to L1: if you only start looking in July or August, you're still too late.

Where to look

• Maastricht Housing

  The official housing platform for UM, Zuyd and the Jan van Eyck Academy. A one-time €35 registration gives access to the UM Guesthouse, rooms from the housing corporations Maasvallei, Woonpunt, Servatius and Wonen Limburg, and listings from private landlords and agencies.

• UM Guesthouse

  Around 900 furnished rooms and studios at several locations in the city, booked through Maastricht Housing, with gas, water, electricity and internet included in the rent. Degree students starting in August or September stay at least 11 and at most 12 months, so treat it as a safe first year while you look for something longer.

• Hospi Housing

  A private room in a host's home, sharing the kitchen and bathroom. UM says Hospi Housing works with the university and the municipality and uses verified hosts, and registering and applying is free.

• Kamernet, Pararius and agencies

  UM points to both platforms for private rooms, studios and apartments, and warns that rooms fill up quickly, especially in the summer.

• Facebook groups

  UM notes that many students advertise rooms in student houses on Facebook and names two groups: Rooms/Kamer/Zimmer Maastricht and Maastricht Room Search. MyMaastricht, the information site backed by the municipality, UM and Zuyd, warns that many of the city's active housing scams run on sites like Facebook — so use the groups, but check everything.

What a room costs, and what isn't allowed

Kamernet's rent report for the second quarter of 2026 put the median Maastricht room at €550 a month, up 15.8% on a year earlier — an above-average rise among the 17 cities it covers.

A high price isn't automatically a legal one. For a room with shared facilities, the Huurcommissie's online rent check calculates the maximum base rent from four things: the size of your room, the size of the shared spaces, how many people share them and the building's WOZ value. UM also warns students about illegal extra charges such as mediation or administration fees.

Huurteam Zuid-Limburg, set up by UM, the municipality of Maastricht and the regional economic partnership ESZL, checks rental contracts and rents for free and can contact your landlord on your behalf. Book it before you sign, not only once something has gone wrong.

Scams aimed at students abroad

UM says Maastricht Police receive many reports about housing scams every year. MyMaastricht describes the usual pattern: a fake contract, followed by a request to send a deposit to the scammer's bank account. Its red flags are specific enough to check against any offer you get.

• A contract with only a name

  The landlord's first and last name and nothing else — no address, no contact details.

• A foreign bank account

  Bank details that are missing, or an IBAN that doesn't start with NL.

• A deposit of two months' rent or more

  A deposit above two months' basic rent is illegal, and MyMaastricht treats even two months as a reason for caution, as it does any large transfer on vague grounds. Always ask for a receipt for the deposit.

• Costs that aren't broken down

  Base rent and service costs should be listed separately, and the contract should say how your deposit will be paid back.

• A price that seems too good to be true

  MyMaastricht's verdict: it usually is.

Registering at your Maastricht address

If you're coming from abroad to study in Maastricht for more than four months, you have to register with the municipality. It's free. You fill in an online form, the gemeente emails you within up to five weeks explaining how to book, and you then have two months to attend an appointment with your passport and, if you have it, your birth certificate. MyMaastricht says to bring your rental contract, printed and signed by both parties. The municipality asks students not to chase their registration — submitting the form twice only slows it down.

Expats who work here, such as highly skilled migrants and researchers, register through the municipality's expat route, which asks for a signed lease or written permission from the main tenant. Registration gives you your BSN, which you need for health insurance, a bank account and public services. Whichever route applies to you, settle one question before you sign: can you register at this address?

Living in Belgium or Germany instead

UM points out that towns like Lanaken are just across the border in Belgium and easily reachable by bike, and that Heerlen and Sittard, on the Dutch side, have direct train or bus connections to Maastricht. Crossing the border isn't a simple swap, though.

• Non-EU students

  UM states that a Dutch student visa requires residence in the Netherlands, which rules out living in a neighbouring country on that visa.

• EU students

  Living, working and studying in different countries can have positive and negative consequences for your social security and taxes. Get advice from the cross-border information points (GrensInfoPunten) before you sign anything outside the Netherlands.

• Heerlen and Sittard

  Staying on the Dutch side avoids the visa and cross-border questions above while still widening the search. UM publishes separate housing information for Heerlen.

What to check at a Maastricht viewing

• Can you register here, and from when?

  Without registration there's no BSN. Ask directly, and make sure the contract start date works for your municipality appointment.

• Who is renting it to you?

  Is the person showing the room the landlord or an agent, can they open the door, and will their full name, address and contact details be on the contract?

• Room size and shared spaces

  Measure the room, note the shared kitchen, bathroom and living areas, and count the housemates. Those are the inputs for the Huurcommissie's rent check.

• What the rent includes

  The UM Guesthouse includes utilities; many private rooms don't. Ask what the service costs cover and what furniture stays.

• The building and the room itself

  Damp, heating, noise, the shower queue and where your bike goes are what you'll live with long after the contract is signed.

Getting a Maastricht viewing attended

MyMaastricht's advice, if you aren't in the city, is to ask for an online viewing or have a friend visit the property for you. If there's no friend to ask, SpotView can send a verified viewer: we offer the job to viewers in and around Maastricht, and if none of them can take it, we cancel the booking and refund you in full. Tell us the Maastricht address when you book.

You book the slot with the landlord or agent yourself and tell them someone is attending on your behalf. Every viewer passes a government-ID check before they can accept a job and checks in at the door with GPS and a photo. They film and photograph the room, score 24 checks, ask your questions and write a verdict, and you then have 24 hours to ask follow-up questions. We hold your payment until the report is delivered; if the viewer is refused entry, you get 50% back and still receive a neighbourhood tour and a legitimacy check on the address.

We're new, and we haven't published a Maastricht report yet. Our pilot viewing, of a student room just outside Delft in August 2026, is public with the address masked, so you can see exactly what you'd receive.