How to find a rental in Groningen: a practical guide

Groningen is home to the University of Groningen (RUG) and Hanze University of Applied Sciences. The RUG doesn't house students and warns that more than 20,000 students look for a room at the same time. Young professionals search the same listings. Nationally, the Kences 2026 monitor still counts a shortage of more than 20,200 student rooms.

Since July 2024, the Wet betaalbare huur sorts homes into bands using a points system (WWS):

• Social rent: up to 143 points, with a maximum of €932.93 a month in 2026.
• Mid-rent: 144 to 186 points, with a maximum of €1,228.07 a month in 2026.
• Free sector: 187 points or more.

For current asking rents, check the live Renthaven listing data on this page. This guide focuses on how to search.

No single site shows every home. Rooms, studios and apartments appear on platforms such as Pararius, Kamernet, Direct Wonen and Kamer.nl. Many makelaars also publish homes on their own websites, and not every agency listing reaches the big portals.

• Rental platforms: save a search with alerts on each one you use.
• Makelaars' websites: Groningen agencies post new rooms and homes on their own sites.
• SSH: limited rooms for new international students, via ROOM.nl.
• Groningen Huurt: the regional site where all housing corporations in the province advertise social rentals.

Student housing. SSH offers a limited number of fixed-term rooms for new international students. These contracts can't be extended, so plan your next step from the day you move in. One ROOM.nl registration covers SSH and other providers; check room.nl for the current fee. In 2024 figures, the average registration time for student housing in Groningen was three years.

Social housing. Since 3 November 2025, all housing corporations in the province advertise through the regional site Groningen Huurt. Register there if you plan to stay in the region for a while.

Areas students and renters often mention include Paddepoel and Selwerd, close to the Zernike campus, and Korrewegwijk, Oosterpoort and Schildersbuurt nearer the centre.

Groningen is compact and easy to cycle. Draw a search area that covers both your campus and the centre, or set a travel time. You'll see more rooms than if you stick to one neighbourhood name.

Groningen has strict rules on room rental. The municipality only grants new permits to convert a home into rooms (kamerverhuur) in very exceptional cases. Since 2019, landlords who rent to students in buildings with three or more units need a landlord permit, so ask about it before you sign. Since May 2025, buy-to-let protection (opkoopbescherming) applies to homes with a WOZ value up to €430,000.

• Permanent contracts are the norm since 1 July 2024. Temporary contracts (max two years) are only allowed in listed exceptions, such as students renting for study in another municipality.
• Deposit: at most two months' basic rent since 1 July 2023.
• Point score: since 1 January 2025, the landlord must tell you the home's points at the start of the tenancy.
• Huurcommissie: in the free sector you can have your starting rent checked within the first six months. The Huurprijscheck tool calculates the points.

• Don't pay a deposit or fees before you've checked the room and the landlord.
• Check the address on Street View and run a reverse image search on the photos.
• Red flags: rent far below market, contact only online, a foreign bank account.
• If you can't view the room before paying, assume it's fake. Never pay by MoneyGram or Western Union.

Most landlords ask for a gross monthly income of at least three times the rent, and agents often ask for three to four times. That's a market convention, not a law. Students without income should ask whether a guarantor is accepted. Keep your ID and proof of enrolment or income ready.

Register at your address in the BRP within five days of arriving. Proof of address is usually your rental contract or consent from the main occupant. Staying under four months? You can register as a non-resident and still get a BSN.

With thousands of students searching at once, replying early matters in Groningen. Keep your saved searches on the platforms running and add Renthaven to cover the rest. Renthaven watches rental sites and makelaars' own websites, matches new homes to your search profile and alerts you. You always reply on the original listing.

1. 1Day 1: register at ROOM.nl if you're a student, and at Groningen Huurt.
2. 2Day 1: save searches with alerts on the platforms you use.
3. 3Day 2: create a Renthaven search profile. Draw the exact streets you'd live in, for example Paddepoel and Selwerd plus the Oosterpoort.
4. 4Day 2: save your ID, proof of enrolment or income and guarantor details as PDFs.
5. 5Day 3: write a short reply template with who you are, what you study and when you can view.
6. 6Rest of the week: reply as soon as an alert arrives and book viewings.

The free plan gives you one search profile with email alerts, delivered with a one-hour delay. Premium adds instant push notifications and email the moment a match appears, unlimited search profiles and reply templates that fill in the address. Premium starts from €15 a month, you can cancel anytime and there's a 14-day money-back guarantee.