Group permits

A permit might be required to live in Rotterdam with a group of 3 or more people. But don’t worry! We will help you understand step by step what you might have to do. 

These permits and municipality requirements are only applicable to groups of 3 or more people. If you are in a group of 2 or less, no permits and regulations are applicable.

If your group consists of working professionals then you are required to form a living group (Woongroep), also referred to as a sustainable household.

If your group consists of students then a room rental permit (Vergunning kamerverhuur) is required in order to live with 3 or more students.  

Please note that in both cases (if you are a group of students or of working professionals) a Housing permit HVV may be required. This housing permit is only necessary if you want to live in specific areas of Rotterdam. But rest assured, we will guide you through this process. You can find out more information about the housing permit HVV here.

Room rental permit (Vergunning kamerverhuur)

If you would like to have more than 3 housemates that are students, then applying for a room rental permit is necessary. This permit is only applicable to students.

This permit can be granted under the condition that:  

• Each person is a student, meaning you have to be registered in the (applied) university in the current academic year. 
• The students living at the address to which the permit was requested will influence the environment in a positive manner and will add to the quality of life of the neighbourhood. Thus, each student must carry out volunteering work in the neighborhood for at least 4 hours a month. 
• No or not too many room rental permits are already granted in the building or street to the opinion of the municipality of Rotterdam. 

If all the conditions are met and the students agree in participating in volunteering work, then Citylife will apply for the permit. In this case, Citylife will add a clause about the volunteering work in its rental agreement. We have agreements with volunteering institutions as NL Cares, and will arrange the volunteering opportunities for you. 

Some additional documents from your side will also be needed. 

• A copy of proof of enrollment at your educational institution
• A short motivation letter from each household member that describes how you will help improve the area and why you would like to do the volunteering work.

It takes from 2 to 8 weeks for a decision to be taken by the municipality after the application is submitted. From our professional experience, this period can also be considerably shorter. Please note that the 4th housemate can only be added to the apartment once the permit has been granted by the municipality. Citylife will give the initial tenants a price reduction during the application period for the permit. 

Living group (Woongroep)

If you would like to live in a household with 3 or more people and most of you are working professionals, then you must live together as a living group (Woongroep). It is important to mention that this is not applicable to a group solely existing of students. If your living group includes students, the majority of the living group must consist of working professionals. So more than 50% of the group have to be working professionals, meaning:

• Group of 3 people – max 1 person can be a student (33% students, 67% working professionals)
• Group of 4 people – max 1 person can be a student (25% students, 75% working professionals)
• Group of 5 people – max 2 persons can be a student (40% students, 60% working professionals)

Note that the group doesn’t have to include students, it can also consist of only working professionals. 

Your household must support a sustainable and communal lifestyle. Sustainability means that the resident’s relationship will be tested against social sustainability measures. In this case, it will be assessed if the residents chose to live together because of their existing relationship or only because they needed a room in Rotterdam. The first case is required as the municipality wants residents that have chosen to live together for a longer period of time and not just for the duration of a study. Thus, residents that live together only for their study period should apply for a room rental permit and are not eligible to form a living group.

A Communal lifestyle means that all residents occupy the house, and the costs are also shared by all. This entails that:

• No parts of the house should be used individually, except for the bedrooms
• The bedrooms should have no locks
• The house contains one shared kitchen
• The house contains one suitable shared living room
• The household costs are shared