Housing permit HVV

You may be required to have a housing permit HVV (huisvestingsvergunning) to live at a specific address in Rotterdam. Thus, you can only move in and register at the municipality after the housing permit is granted. But don’t worry! There are no costs incurred to obtain this permit and according to our experience, this permit is easily granted. This permit is being granted by the municipality of Rotterdam. The easiest and fastest way to apply for it is online via their website – link here

To be aware of the areas in which the permit is required you can also access the above link.

If you would like to know if this is applicable to one of our Citylife apartments, just give us a call or check the apartment description details.

To obtain the permit you will be assessed according to your income and/or will undergo a police check.

Income check:

If you have lived in the Rotterdam region for less than 6 years and would like to rent a house located in a housing permit area, you should meet one of the following criteria:

1. You are enrolled in a university, higher professional education, or secondary vocational education.
2. You should be economically independent, meaning that 
   • Your income should be higher than the Rotterdam social assistance standard that is as per 1 of January of 2021 € 1.684,80 per month.
   • Your income can come from:

1. Work – employment contract
2. Independent profession
3. Own company
4. Voluntary early retirement 
5. AOW
6. Retirement or survivor’s pension

You are exempt from the income requirement if you want to live in a sustainable common household with someone that already has a permit. If the last is the case, then you will have to submit a declaration stating that you will be living by means of a sustainable common household. The declaration can also be found in the above link.

Police check:

The municipality will check all people moving into a housing permit area on past criminal behaviour. You will not receive a permit in case you have caused nuisances or displayed criminal behaviour in the past. 

Finally, the application for this permit should be made online. In general, you will need to attach the following documents:

• Application form for the housing permit
• Signed tenancy agreement
• Landlord statement
• Copy of your identification
• Proof of enrollment (in case you are a student) or income (in case you are not a student)

You can find the files to be filled in as well as the required documents in the same link as listed above. A permit decision can be taken within 2 weeks if all the documents are complete.