As of August 10, it is easier to rent out a room through Eindhoven's ‘Umbrella zoning plan for parking, rooms and house splitting’ (‘Paraplubestemmingsplan parkeren, kamerbewoning en woningsplitsing’).

“In recent years, additional room rentals were not permitted in certain parts of the city in order to limit nuisance for other residents,” says Alderman Mieke Verhees of Housing and Neighborhoods.

“With the new arrangement, it will be possible for homeowners and tenants of housing corporations to rent out a room without a permit, in all parts of the city. This should help new students to find a room more easily. The idea behind the amended regulation is that extra room occupancy by live-in tenants, where the main resident also lives in the home and provides oversight, will lead to very limited pressure on the neighborhood.”

Families and couples too

Previously, there was also a restriction that meant that additional rooms could only be rented by someone living alone, to a maximum of one live-in tenant. As of August 10, a family or a couple may also rent out one or more rooms to a maximum of one adult with a maximum of two children. However, the condition applies that the residents must have been living in the home for at least one year.

Extra income and student happiness

“Our region is one of the main drivers of the Dutch economy and, because of its strong growth, industry has a huge need for more engineers,” says Nicole Ummelen, vice-president of the TU/e Executive Board.

“We are happy to train these engineers, but there must then be rooms available for students. We are therefore very pleased with the extended ‘landlady regulation’, which makes it easier for new students to find a room. We also call on everyone in Eindhoven who has a spare room to rent it out. In this way, they can earn a little extra, they can make a young student happy and they can help out the region.”

Hans Nederlof, board member of Fontys University of Applied Sciences, adds: “It’s actually quite simple. Every extra room is an extra student. And each student provides highly desirable and much-needed support for the Brainport economy.”

Further plans for student rooms

In addition to the new zoning plan, all kinds of actions are underway in Eindhoven to increase the availability of rooms. All parties involved, including educational institutions, housing corporations and the municipality, signed a Convenant on Student Housing last year with a series of plans.

This fall, for example, the construction of two student towers with 735 housing units will begin on the TU/e site. In the coming two years, at least 800 temporary, relocatable homes will be built at various locations, partly for students.

More information about the ‘landlady regulation’ can be found on the site of the Municipality of Eindhoven.