Room or apartment exchange abroad

Many international universities struggle with the rising amount of incoming exchange students. It is well known that finding a room can be incredibly difficult if you for example don’t speak the local language. A solution for this could be the exchange of rooms. But what is it exactly and how does it work?

Exchange of room

Exchange housing is usually meant for exchange students that are going abroad. These students are looking for housing abroad, and because they haven’t found a place yet, they decide to swap rooms with someone that’s going abroad to their home country. For example, Joe from Amsterdam is looking for a room in Medellín. Carlos from Medellín is looking for a room in Amsterdam. Since they both don’t want to leave the room they had in their home country, they decide to swap. So Joe goes living in Carlos his room, and Carlos is Joe’s. When the semester is over and both are going back to their home country, they can go back in the room they had before the semester exchange. A win-win thus. Imagine you are about to study abroad. It would be wise to check if the city you’re about to go to offers facilities to live at for exchange students. Shameless plug: we have listed various awesome student houses on our website. If you can’t find these facilities, you could swap rooms with an exchange student that goes to your home country. This is a win-win, as you don’t have to be looking for a room anymore, and you are subletting your room in your home country.

Frequently asked questions about exchange housing

We listed some questions below that got frequently asked to us about exchange housing, including our answers to these.

For who is exchange housing?

Exchange housing is meant for exchange students, going abroad for a semester.

What is an exchange student?

An exchange student is a student that is going to another university (abroad) for usually a semester. In exchange, students from that other university come to the university of the exchange student.

Is exchange housing common?

Exchange housing is not unusual, but also doesn’t happen on a large scale.

How do I exchange my room with a foreign student?

You can ask for more information at your own university, municipality, exchange website or classmates. It is important to make good agreements with the other exchange student.

Where can I find exchange housing?

You’re more likely to find exchange housing in cities that have a large in- and outflow of exchange students. Besides social media, asking the university for housing exchange projects could work as well.