Question 1

What Is A Homestay a.k.a Live-In Accommodation?

Accepted Answer

Homestay a.k.a. Live-In accommodations are accommodations which are shared with the landlord. At a homestay accommodation, you have your private room or floor. Some homestay accommodations are suitable for couples or two persons, and other accommodations are for one person. Which situation is applicabe, will be mentioned in the advertisement.

The landlord can be a student, a family or a couple. With these accommodations, the house rules may differ from the standard house rules. As you will be living with the landlord, they can request different rules such as: taking shoes off before entering the accommodation, no showering after midnight because it will disturb the landlord or its family, no loud music after a certain time and so on.

More information about the landlord, house rules and requests are visible in the advertisement on our website or are available upon request.

About the renting procedure:

Regarding the tenancy period

Question 2

I Would Like To Book A 'Student Housing Consult'.

Accepted Answer

The housing market is overwhelmed at this moment. The accommodations are booked before you know it, and before you know it, the new schoolyear is already starting.

If you need any help with housing or understanding your rights as a tenant, you can book a 'Student Housing Consult'. The hourly rate for this consult is 150 EUR., and it is possible to bring along up to 3 other people. The starting rate is one hour, even if you stay less than one hour. After this hour, you will be charged per 15 minutes (e.g. 22 min will be charged as 30 min).

Anything regarding finding housing and rental law can be discussed during this 'Student Housing Consult'. Depending on your topics, you will be having your consult with our lawyer, specialised in rental law or with our 'student housing specialist & educator avoiding scams on the rental market and tenancy law'.

Find some examples of the discussable topics here: 'How To Find Student Housing On A Budget' or 'Student Housing Laws And Regulations'. You can choose and mix the topics for the 'Student Housing Consult'.

E-mail to help@shth.nl to book your 'Student Housing Consult'.

Question 3

Is My Data Safe With SHTH?

Accepted Answer

We are GDPR compliant, and we do not store personal data on our servers.

What is GDPR?

GDPR is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy in the EU.

The applications and databases we use are GDPR compliant. The applications and databases use a variety of measures to comply with the GDPR:

Data processing agreements
Data Protection Officers
2 Factor Authentication (2FA)
Employee Access Restriction
Regularly maintained systems
Encryption when sending or receiving data
Encryption in databases at rest
Data is regularly backed up to a separate, isolated location and encrypted

You can read our privacy policy here

Question 4

What Are The Extra Fees With Apartments/Studio's For Stays Shorter Than Twelve Months?

Accepted Answer

All stays shorter than twelve months are subject to additional fees

The following rates and price plans apply to the rental periods of Independent Living Accommodations (ILA) such as whole apartments.

All additional fees are processed monthly

Short stay accommodations:

4 months: + €150,00 p/m
3 months: + €180,00 p/m
2 months: + €240,00 p/m
1 month: + €360,00
less than 1 month: + €720,00

Long stay accommodations:

12 months: the standard rate as mentioned in the advertisement
11 months: + €36,00 p/m
10 months: + €48,00 p/m
9 months: + €60,00 p/m
8 months: + €75,00 p/m
7 months: + €90,00 p/m
6 months: + €105,00 p/m
5 months: + €135,00 p/m

Question 5

What Payment Methods Are Accepted?

Accepted Answer

Once you book an accommodation with us, you will be provided different ways to pay the deposit, the rent and other additional services throughout the tenancy. In short, we accept the following payment methods:

SEPA Bank transfer (FREE)
iDeal (FREE)
Bancontact (FREE)
Credit cards (4.2% charge)

SEPA Bank transfer is one of the most straight forward possibilities. Kindly note to take into account the right bank account number and the attn. of the transaction. This information is always mentioned in the contract and invoice.

Non-European bank accounts

Kindly note that if you try to transfer an amount from a non-IBAN (non-European) bank account, your bank and other intermediate banks will most probably deduct transfer fees from the amount sent. This will result in a lower amount received by us, and you will need to supplement the amount due. For that reason, we do not advise you to transfer funds directly to our bank account from a non-European bank account.

iDeal is a payment method which is very popular in The Netherlands and all the Dutch banks are connected to. The invoices provided also contain an automatic payment link through iDeal, which makes transferring funds seamlessly.

Bancontact is a popular Belgium payment method which is supported by almost all the Belgium banks.

Credit cards we accept: Visa, MasterCard, JCB, UnionPay, Discover and American Express. If you want to pay an amount with your credit card, a non-refundable processing fee of 4.2% of the total amount is applicable to the transaction.

Under no circumstances do we accept cash payments

Question 6

What Is A Monthly Check?

Accepted Answer

A monthly check is a check-up of the state of the accommodation where you are staying. The purpose of a monthly check is to keep an eye on the condition of the apartment, such as; making sure that all appliances are working properly, and to keep up with small maintenance issues.

You don't need to stay at your accommodation during the process as we only check the common areas. You will receive a report after the monthly check with our findings. These findings are objective findings and not a responsibility report. We will communicate clearly if there are any responsibility issues.

If you are at the accommodation during the monthly check, you can take the opportunity to direct questions regarding the monthly check to the inspector.

Question 7

Is A Proof Of Payment Sufficient To Arrange The Check-In?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but only if we received the payment before the check-in.

We can schedule the check-in, but if the payment is not on our bank account at the moment of your check-in, then we cannot proceed with the check-in process and we are obliged to charge you with a no-show fee.

Question 8

Can I Check-Out Earlier/Later Than The End Date Of The Tenancy Contract?

Accepted Answer

You can check-out earlier than the end date of the contract, but not later.

The end date of the contract is the utmost latest date that you can check-out, because your accommodation may be rented out to a third party already per the next day after your contract ends. If you would like to check-out earlier than the contract end date, please notify us as soon as possible, so we can properly arrange the check-out. Kindly note that arranging a earlier check-out date and time is always subject to our availability.

Question 9

Is A Pre-Check-Out Mandatory?

Accepted Answer

No, a pre-check-out is not mandatory. However, it is in your best interest to do one. We will inspect the accommodation and give you tips and guidance on what needs to be done before checking out.

If you are sure that you do not need a pre-check-out because you kept everything tidy and clean, you can request only to have the check-out.

Question 10

Can I Check-In On An Earlier/Later Date Than The Starting Date Of The Contract?

Accepted Answer

The earliest date you can check-in is the starting date of the contract.

The check-in is always scheduled on the same day that the contract starts, which is fair. However, if you would like to have your check-in arranged later than the contract start date, that may be possible. Please inform us in time per e-mail before the scheduled check-in will take place. Kindly note that arranging a later check-in date and time is always subject to our availability. More information regarding this can be found here: https://faq.shth.nl/faqs/at-what-date-and-time-is-the-check-in-scheduled