Study abroad6 min read
Student housing abroad: how to find a room and avoid scams
The Draimo team
Short answer
Start with your university: most offer or reserve rooms for new international students, and the deadline is often months before you arrive. If you rent privately, start early, never pay a deposit before you have seen the room in person or by live video, and pay by card rather than bank transfer. In Stockholm, join the student housing queue as soon as you apply, because rooms go by days in the queue.
Try it in Draimo
Ask about housing for your university
- Does my university guarantee housing for first-year international students, and what is the deadline to apply?
- Is this room listing a scam? The landlord is abroad and wants a deposit before I can view it.
- University lookup
- For more than a hundred top universities, Draimo reads the official website of the one you are aiming for and shows you the page.
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- Answers from official pages
- Pick your university and Draimo answers from its own published pages, with the page linked so you can open it.
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- Files
- Attach a PDF, Word file, slides or a photo and ask about it.
- One file per message on every plan; several at once on paid plans
- Your language
- Ask in English, Swedish, Kiswahili, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi or Arabic, and get the answer in it.
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Start with the university, not the open market
University housing is usually the safest first year: the contract is with the university, the rent is known, and nobody can take a deposit for a room that does not exist. Many universities guarantee or prioritise a room for new international students who apply by a set date, and that date can fall before your visa is issued.
Ask Draimo whether your university guarantees housing, what it costs and when the application closes. Pick your university and Draimo reads its official housing pages and links the one it used, so you are not digging through a site you have never seen.
How it works in the four biggest destinations
- United States: most universities house first-year students on campus, and many require it. Graduate students more often rent near campus, through the university's off-campus housing listings. See renting off campus in the US.
- United Kingdom: universities run or partner with halls of residence, and many guarantee a first-year room if you apply by their deadline. Private purpose-built student housing is common in big cities. See UK student housing.
- Germany: public universities rarely house students directly. Rooms come through the regional Studierendenwerk, whose halls have waiting lists, or a shared flat (WG). Start as soon as you are admitted. See student housing in Germany.
- Sweden: in Stockholm, SSSB's queue decides who gets a room by the number of days you have queued, so sign up the day you apply. Other cities have their own student housing companies and queues. See moving to Sweden.
The scam signs to walk away from
International students are the target because they cannot view a room before they arrive. The pattern is almost always the same.
- The landlord is abroad, or away, and cannot show you the room.
- You are asked for a deposit or first month's rent before any viewing, even a live video one.
- Payment must go by bank transfer or a money transfer service, not a card.
- The rent is well below everything else in the area, and there is pressure to decide today.
- The photos appear in other listings under another name or city.
Where Draimo helps
Paste a listing or attach the contract and ask Draimo what it commits you to, what the notice period is, and whether anything matches the scam signs above. Ask in your own language and get the answer in it. With Agent Mode on a monthly plan, Draimo compares rents in the neighbourhoods near your campus from live pages and cites each one.
Questions people ask
- When should international students start looking for housing?
- As soon as you accept an offer. University housing deadlines often come months before the term starts, and in Stockholm and many German cities the queues and waiting lists are long.
- How do I avoid student housing scams?
- Never pay before viewing the room in person or by live video, pay by card rather than bank transfer, and be wary of landlords who say they are abroad or of rents far below the local average.
- Do universities guarantee housing for international students?
- Many do for first-year students who apply by a deadline, but not all. Ask Draimo about your university and it reads the university's housing pages for you.
Sources we checked
- UCL: housing scam warning signs
- King's College London: accommodation scams
- SSSB: Stockholm student housing
Checked 30 September 2026. Dates and amounts change every year. Draimo reads the current pages when you ask.
Find out what your university offers, and check any listing before you pay.
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