Are you excited about studying in Ghent, including looking for a student house? A student house that suits your wants and needs? As we know, finding a student house is a difficult task. But no worries! We will help you to find the perfect house with our best tips & tricks by providing you with some sites on how to find a home in the beautiful city in Ghent. 

WHERE TO FIND HOUSING?

BE CAREFUL! There are a lot of realtors that are more than happy to help you find a room, but don´t be surprised if they let you pay a high sum of money for their services. 

1: SCHOOL HOUSING

One of the first things you should do when looking for a student house is search through your school. These facilities are often cheaper and if there are problems, you can easily go to the designated department of your shool.

2: Private housing

Another option is to find private housing, via a realtor or via other sources, such as internet.

• Realo.be is a good and trustworthy site. Here you can enter the city of Ghent and after that, several offers will be provided to you. 
• Immoweb.be is the largest real estate website of Belgium which offers a lot of accommodations. 
• Upkot provides rooms, as the students housing of the university but on the private market, they have several dorms in Ghent that could be intresting. 
• Another option can be emailing the University, sometimes they have accomodation proposals, before it appears on the others websites, from the private market. 

However there are more likely scams on the private market, it is very important to pay attention to the offer.

3: CONTACT

Another good and safe way to find a room is to ask around in your own environment. It might be a good idea to talk to some ex- ERASMUS students from your university or students in Ghent. Try to contact the previous renters to get an idea of their experience with the owner and the room. 

4: FACEBOOK

Another tip we can provide you with is to check out offers on facebook. There are several Facebook pages that offer student accommodation, including the one from the university and colleges of Ghent itself. Facebook keeps you up to date with the latest offers on student accommodation and allows you to get in touch with the provider quickly.

ATTENTION! Facebook is also very accessible for scammers. So check everything carefully before paying.
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5: DOMICILIE

When moving to Ghent there is the possibility you have to apply for a domicilie, this is your legal registered address in Belgium. Before seeing a property you need to find out if you need to apply for this. Sometimes it is optional, compulsory or banned, depending on your landlord. When you have applied for a domicilie you have to provide your address to the city hall, this way they can register this address as your official address. After a few months a police officer will check if you are really living there by calling neighbors and passing by. If you're not home during the visit of the police officer, a note with a date to meet will be left at your Belgium address, to prevent further trouble. The best thing to do is to stay home at this date. 

More tips

Ghent is a vivid and popular student city with plenty of suitable student accommodations. About 5% of the population of Ghent is made up of international students and finding a room in Ghent could be hard if you start too late. So we recommend you to don't start searching too late! 

As an international student, applying to student residences is your first option. Universities have rooms that are allocated to incoming exchange students. So please check the registration deadlines carefully.

'Feel at home' and do not hesitate to regularly e-mail the owners and housing departments of universities, especially if you are looking for an accommodation on the private market.

WatCh out for scammers

Scams are common when students are looking for housing. There are some things to take in consideration and avoid scams.

1. Try to stay in a student dorm. Universities are the safest way to get a dorm, because of the communication between the student and them.

2. In case of private dorms, look in safe websites that offer a catalog of rooms or studios available for everyone.

4. Take a look at contracts and make the process as clear as possible. Ask for advice to international directors.

5. Try to search for personal contact and make sure to know who you are dealing with. Asking for a short Skype conversation can be a good solution to this.

6. Don't pay yet if you haven't seen the student room properly.

7. Make an appointment to meet the owner.