Attempting to rent a home in the Netherlands turned Julia Corbett into a paranoid spammer with stalker tendencies thrown in. She explains how the rot set in. After not one, two or three, but four properties slipped from my fingers I can safely say I have experienced the housing hell in the Netherlands.
Our adventure began when my Dutch partner returned home after some years in England and I became a student in the Netherlands. It has been a more bumpy start than expected after experiencing a lack of suitable housing options.
From Hilversum to Leerdam and Den Bosch to Busson, I have learnt that luck and timing has more to do with finding a place to rent than most people will feel comfortable with. My Dutch boyfriend of nearly five years took eagerly to the rental sections of housing websites and arranged a day crammed full of viewings of apartments, houses and loft conversions.
Having donned a smart outfit and brushed my hair for the encounter with our future landlords, I found myself being scolded for turning up five minutes late to an appointment that lasted no longer than 30 seconds.
We dashed in and out of the four rooms in a supermarket sweep-style daze, wondering where our furniture would fit, before we were ushered out and abandoned in the street as our suited agent sped off on his company moped. ‘Where is the carpet?!’ we cried at our next viewing only to be informed that carpets, paint and exposed piping were a luxury we must solve on our own.
Read more about renting a home in the Netherlands
Our adventure began when my Dutch partner returned home after some years in England and I became a student in the Netherlands. It has been a more bumpy start than expected after experiencing a lack of suitable housing options.
From Hilversum to Leerdam and Den Bosch to Busson, I have learnt that luck and timing has more to do with finding a place to rent than most people will feel comfortable with. My Dutch boyfriend of nearly five years took eagerly to the rental sections of housing websites and arranged a day crammed full of viewings of apartments, houses and loft conversions.
Having donned a smart outfit and brushed my hair for the encounter with our future landlords, I found myself being scolded for turning up five minutes late to an appointment that lasted no longer than 30 seconds.
We dashed in and out of the four rooms in a supermarket sweep-style daze, wondering where our furniture would fit, before we were ushered out and abandoned in the street as our suited agent sped off on his company moped. ‘Where is the carpet?!’ we cried at our next viewing only to be informed that carpets, paint and exposed piping were a luxury we must solve on our own.
Read more about renting a home in the Netherlands
