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A room with a host is €143 a month cheaper than a regular student room

Renting out a room produces the cheapest rooms in the Netherlands, and it is growing in popularity. We see more supply and more matches, while demand stays high. That is the finding of Hospi Housing's 2026 annual report. Three quarters of hosts still need permission from their bank or landlord, and municipal policy remains unclear. The new law and a national baseline could change that.

A tenant arrives home and is greeted at the door by his host
€143cheaper per month than a regular room
€390the price gap in and around Amsterdam is the largest
45%of new hosts are under 40, against 21% in 2022
53%of municipalities allow it without a permit, in the rest it is not or unclear

Utrecht, 27 August – A room with a host costs a median of €500 a month. A regular student room costs €643. That is a difference of €143 a month, or €1,716 a year, according to Renting out a room in the Netherlands 2026, the third annual report by Hospi Housing, the largest platform for renting out a room in the Netherlands.

Renting out a room requires nothing to be built; the space is already there. Of Dutch homeowners, 49% have a spare room of at least 12 m²: 40% of them are considering renting it out and 13% are definitely willing to. Earlier government research among a broad group of Dutch people puts it at 1 in 3 with a suitable room to spare.

That makes renting out a room the most obvious way to add rooms quickly. It is also the most affordable housing option, which makes it suitable for students and for vulnerable groups such as young people and the economically homeless.

The price gap is largest in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Nijmegen and Rotterdam

In the big cities the gap with the regular market runs highest, precisely where the need is greatest: in and around Amsterdam a room with a host is €390 a month cheaper, around Utrecht €300. In all ten regions that can be compared with the regular market, the room with a host is cheaper.

Per square metre, too, a room with a host is cheaper in nine of the ten regions. Around Amsterdam you pay €37.20 per square metre with a host against €73.30 on the regular market: nearly half as much for the same space.

Median monthly rent by region, room with a host against regular room
RegionWith a hostRegular roomDifference
Amsterdam€600€990−€390
Utrecht€500€800−€300
Nijmegen€500€642−€142
Rotterdam€576€710−€134
Den Haag€650€750−€100
Groningen€490€580−€90
Leiden€550€640−€90
Maastricht€475€550−€75
Tilburg€525€560−€35
Eindhoven€525€559−€34
National€500€643−€143
Median monthly rent, excluding bills. Room with a host: Hospi Housing's own data, listings published in 2025 and 2026, per region within 15 km of the city centre. Regular room: Kamernet rental report Q1 2026, national figure Q2 2026.

Renting out a room is growing in popularity

The host is back. We see more supply and more matches. Renting out a room has grown from a niche into a serious answer to student housing. In 2025 supply grew by 20%, and this year the number of rooms hosts created is 28% higher than in the same period last year.

At the same time demand remains undiminished. A key reason is affordability: a room with a host is significantly cheaper than a regular room. That makes living with a host an attractive option for more and more people.

The number of matches could rise a great deal further. Some hosts drop out along the way because they do not get permission from their mortgage lender or landlord, or because municipal rules do not allow letting.

The host is getting younger, and more often a man

The image of the elderly widow with a spare room stopped being accurate several years ago. Of the people who registered as a host in 2025, 45% were under 40, against 21% in 2022. And 44% of hosts are men.

On the other side of the table are mostly young people who come to the Netherlands to study or work. They name affordability as their main reason, but culture, safety and social contact follow close behind. Strikingly, hosts themselves do not think of money first either: 71% say it is a waste for the space to stand empty, against 34% who mention extra income.

“We now have someone in the house who has just started working, and it simply feels good to be able to give them a good start.”

Thierry & Elian, young parents and hosts in Wageningen

Municipal homestay policy is one big patchwork

Through the Geef Tijdelijk Thuis partnership, the policy of all 342 Dutch municipalities was examined. In more than half of them nothing about the rules on renting out a room can be found online or in the official database of decentralised regulations. Enquiries by email and phone showed that in 53% of municipalities renting out a room is allowed without a permit. In the rest it is not, or it stays unclear.

The policy is also a patchwork. No two municipalities apply the same conditions and things are measured in different units; one counts people, another rooms and a third looks at households. Where policy does exist it usually sits only in the housing by-law, not anywhere a resident would look.

Even though most municipalities allow it, the lack of clarity and the fragmentation make many would-be hosts give up before they start. That is a waste and it has to change. Rather than every municipality writing its own policy, we argue for one national baseline for renting out a room: one room to one person, no permit required. On top of that a municipality can decide to relax the rules further.

The law is ready, but for now it is holding things back

The homestay bill went to the House of Representatives on 7 July 2026, with the aim of taking effect on 1 January 2027. It removes precisely the risk mortgage lenders invoke: a home with a tenant in it fetches less on sale. In future a homestay contract can be ended on sale. That should mean hosts receive permission more often and more rooms become available.

But for now the announcement is having the opposite effect. Mortgage lenders who used to grant permission case by case would rather wait until the law is in place, so they can set policy in one go. For someone with a spare room today, that is a closed door. The Nationale Hypotheek Garantie has in fact already made its decision: as soon as the law is in place, NHG will allow renting out a room. Other parties are more hesitant.

A quality mark for renting out a room in 2027

The number of hosts and the number of placements with hosts is rising. More and more people are starting to let a room and taking someone into their home. That raises more questions about how to start and how to shape the rental period. Geef Tijdelijk Thuis is therefore working with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations on a quality mark for renting out a room, built around affordability and safety. It is expected to launch in 2027.

Three calls to action

  1. Handle the homestay bill quickly. The bill makes renting out a room easier and accessible to more people. The sooner it takes effect, the sooner would-be hosts can start.

  2. Introduce a national baseline for renting out a room: no permit required as standard for one room let to one person. That saves municipalities an enormous amount of capacity and makes it far clearer for residents, so fewer of them give up.

  3. Keep promoting the benefits of renting out a room. Many people do not know that it is possible in their situation, or what it can bring them. It provides a little extra income, counters loneliness and is the most affordable answer for students.

Note for editors

About the research. Renting out a room in the Netherlands 2026 is the third annual edition. Prices, supply and demographics come from Hospi Housing's own data; the policy research is the work of Geef Tijdelijk Thuis, the partnership with Kamers met Aandacht and Onder de Pannen.

  • Prices are medians of monthly rent excluding bills across listings from 2025 and 2026, per region within 15 km of a city centre. The comparison with the regular market uses the Kamernet rental reports.
  • Municipal policy was researched in the public regulations database and on the municipal websites, supplemented by enquiries to the municipalities themselves.
  • The data appendix and the absolute numbers are available on request.

Imagery. All charts from the report and a selection of photos of hosts and tenants can be downloaded royalty-free from the press page.

ContactDaan Donkers, Hospi Housinginfo@hospihousing.com06 81 87 25 86

More about the research

The full report is online, with all the figures, charts and methodology. Imagery and the press kit are on the press page.

Download the full report (pdf)Go to the press page