How do you find a student room?

Step 1

Who will be your landlord?

👤 Renting with Brik

Brik lets more than 400 student rooms. In these cases, Brik is the landlord. Everything is arranged directly between Brik and the student: from the tenancy agreement to the day-to-day maintenance.

You rent furnished rooms in Brussels from us for a period of 12 months.

What if you’re looking for a room for just a few months? You can rent from Brik in those circumstances too. Students who will be staying in Brussels for a maximum of one semester can turn to the Van Orley International Student House.

Brik’s rooms are reserved for students from the institutions partnering with Brik (VUB, EhB, Odisee, LUCA, KU Leuven Brussels campuses).

All Brik-rooms for the 2025-2026 academic year have been rented out. Keep an eye on MyKot in case of cancellations.

More info about renting with Brik

👤 Renting from an educational institution

Some colleges and universities have their own student housing. VUB has about 1,500 rooms on and around its campuses.

Find out from the student associations at your educational institution whether there are rooms available for you. Make sure to check whether you qualify for financial support.

VUB student housing

👤 Renting from SVKS

What if you’re looking for a student room but you’re having financial difficulties? The social rental office for students (SVKS – Sociaal Verhuurkantoor voor Studenten in Dutch) lets rooms at a reduced price to students with a modest income.

Renting with SVKS

Step 2

🗓️ When do you look for a student room?

April is the perfect month to start looking for student accommodation. That’s when most landlords post their available rooms online.

During the Open Room days in spring, landlords open their student houses and invite you to get a taste for the atmosphere and the studentlife. For 2025, the Open Room days are already over!

Starting in May, we will show you around our available rooms for next academic year. Join a Kottour through various neighborhoods in Brussels and immediately sign a contract for your favourite kot (‘kot’ is student room in Dutch).

The Kottour for the academic year 2025-20206 have finished.

Kottours

Step 3

What to watch out for. Six important tips!

Moving into a student room? Exciting and a big step! These six tips will help you be well prepared to find a place in Brussels.

1. 🤔 Know what suits you.

What type of student accommodation are you looking for? Do you like a social life with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities? Or do you prefer your own place with everything to yourself? Are you going for a large student residence with lots of facilities, or rather a house with just ten rooms?

Student accommodation with other students has many advantages. The price! Cooking together! Support during the exams! Of course, you also keep each other in mind. Because living with more people in one place also requires a bit of consultation.

On MyKot, you can filter on more than 50 search criteria. Make use of it.

2. 👀 Visit your student room first.

That way you will know it really exists and you can see what it looks like with your own eyes. Having a chat with the current tenant is also always useful.

3. 📍 Location is everything.

Are you someone who prefers to go to class on slippers? Then choose a student room near or on campus. Do you prefer a room in a vibrant neighbourhood? Then you have lots of options!

💡 Tip: you can get everywhere quickly by bike and a season ticket for public transport in Brussels costs only 12 euro per year.

4. 🔒 Safety first.

Choose a room that meets all the legal standards for fire-safety, infrastructure and comfort. Check for smoke detectors, fire doors and fire extinguishers.

💡Tip: choose a student room from mykot.be. All rooms have been checked.

5. 📄 Go for a good contract.

Use the MyKot model contract! Found a room via MyKot? Then the landlord must use the model contract. Renting via another platform? Compare that contract with the model contract.

Know what you are paying:

• An all-in price or extra charges?
• How is the consumption of water, electricity and gas settled?
• Ask how much the previous tenant paid.

💡Tip: pay only after you sign the tenancy agreement.

6. 🧠 Think carefully before you sign.

Moving into a student accomodation is standing on your own two feet. A new city, a new school, cooking for yourself, finding your way, temptations, deadlines …

Think carefully. Can you afford the room for 12 months? If you break the contract earlier, there will be a cost.

🍀 Good luck!