The housing crisis is the bane of Groningen. In economics class, one of the first things you learn is the law of supply and demand. Indeed, Groningen is a little paradise on earth where there is everything you can dream of for a perfect Erasmus year. The downside is that many students want to live here, but there is a huge lack of accommodations. As Groningen is a very attractive city, the owners are very demanding. They prefer people who work full time to students. A real estate agent will not even consider the application of students for an apartment. Therefore, it is very complicated to find a room, especially if you are not Dutch. On all the Facebook groups related to housing searches, you see a majority of offers on your feed where the first sentence is "Dutch only, no internationals". It is complicated to find a studio or a room in a shared apartment if you are not Dutch or German because German people are also favored by landlords compared to students from other countries.
Picture: banner of a Facebook group called "Groningen Homeless Students Association
It is essential to realize how difficult it is to find accommodation. To find a decent room at a reasonable price (in the range of 400-500€/month), you have to send messages to all the offers posted online with a personalized message. Indeed, the difficulty is to stand out from the crowd and to be very fast in order to be among the few messages that will be read. You have to be able to sell yourself, by explaining why you are the ideal roommate. It's not just about paying the month's rent and being clean. No, at this point we enter into a real dissertation on why to choose you and not someone else. Most of the people will focus their presentation on food: each one will talk about the culinary specialty of his country and explain that by choosing them, the other roommates will have the chance to taste the delicious dishes they have prepared.
For this reason, it is important to prepare a message about yourself that you will send to each new ad. Also, personalize the message with one or two sentences that are consistent with the ad you are responding to. For example, explain why you particularly like this location. You can also comment on the room by taking detail to part (surface, element of decoration, ...).
This way, you put the most chance on your side to be selected for a video call or a face-to-face interview in the apartment.
However, even with all the goodwill and efforts of the world, it remains very complicated to find something. Indeed, the owners receive about 300 messages for each ad, so among those many have made efforts to stand out, but it is likely that their message is not even going to be read.
So, try to look for accommodation as far in advance as possible. However, many ads are also posted at the last minute so that's where the real difficulty lies: waiting until the tenants leave and the ads are posted or booking something safe but more expensive earlier.
As for myself, I ended up booking a room at the Student Hotel. The Student Hotel is a hotel, as its name indicates, which welcomes mostly students. Indeed, the great majority of the people lodged are students but some rooms are also rented to tourists who stay a few days in the city. The common areas and the rooms are quite luxurious and tastefully decorated which is always pleasant. In addition, a laundry room with four washing machines and four dryers is available to students for free. Also, a modern gym and a bicycle that you can park in the hotel's garage are included in the rate. I recommend the Student Hotel because I think it is one of the best student residences where you can combine your studies and social life. In other student residences, it is much easier to meet people because there are frequent parties organized by students. At the Student Hotel, there is always someone at the reception 24/7 so it is impossible to organize real parties but you can easily sit with your friends on the sofas. In the student residences like SSH or the Village, the common areas and the rooms are quite scruffy and not very comfortable but the mood is generally much more relaxed and friendly. So it all depends on what you are looking for. If you don't mind not being able to have quiet moments, I strongly suggest that you find out when registration for the SSH residences opens. If, on the other hand, you are more reserved and you like to have time for yourself, I would recommend the Student Hotel.
Another important aspect of the Student Hotel is its price. The earlier you book, the cheaper your room will be. For example, if you book in April, you will pay around 750€ per month against 850€ if you book later. In my case, I paid 950€/month for the first semester because I had only booked for the first semester hoping to find something cheaper and more personal for the second. After I realized that even while living in Groningen, it was extremely complicated to find accommodation, I ended up taking over the contract of a student living in the Student Hotel who was planning to leave Groningen. As a result, I will now “only” pay 850€/month. Also, if I had booked for the whole year from the beginning, instead of just the first semester, I would have only had to pay 850€/month instead of 950€. Also, you understand that student housing in Groningen is expensive. That's why some students end up on the street because there is not enough accommodation for everyone. Also, registering in residences like the Student Hotel or Block House that don't expect us to be the nicest, kindest, funniest, tidiest, chef, have a price, and can't be paid by everyone.
That is why several protests were organized in the city to talk about this scourge and the consequences on the lives of students. The protesters blame the city council and the two universities of Groningen RUG and Hanze for not taking sufficient measures to provide international students with decent housing.
In conclusion, the housing crisis in Groningen is real and increases year after year as Groningen attracts more and more people. Nevertheless, for me, the stress of finding a place to live is completely worth it. After getting through this difficult period, once you have a place to stay, you will be able to take full advantage of all that the city has to offer. To avoid the stress of finding temporary housing, I advise you to book a room in an SSH residence for at least the first semester. You will be able to meet a lot of people quickly and have a better chance of finding a room in a shared apartment for the second semester thanks to your connections.
But don't forget that all good things have a cost, whether it's financial or in terms of energy. After this stress, you will be able to enjoy your Erasmus in Groningen even more!