The Smartest Way to Find Accommodation as an Exchange Student

I’m absolutely convinced that housing for exchange students should and could be way easier. There’s a simple reason for this: in an ideal world, there should be close to no problem at all for exchange students to find housing. I’ll explain why in a minute. Why then is it so difficult to find short-term housing abroad? Well, obviously, we don’t live in a perfect world. Still, in this article, I demonstrate that imagining that we do live in a perfect world can help us getting closer to it.

Oh, before proceeding: this article is quite technical. Curious about the magic of networks? Please do read on. Prefer practical tips for finding accommodation as an exchange student? Have a look at our blog.

Housing problem?

I’ll spare you the details. If you’re reading this, you’re probably well-aware of the increasing housing shortage a lot of university cities are experiencing, the past years. Even if your university doesn’t, there will definitely be outgoing exchange students going to cities that do have an awful housing market.

There are three reasons why this is even worse new for exchange students. Firstly, they’re internationals and landlords shy away from renting to students from other cultures. Secondly, they’re looking for short-term housing which is not readily available. Other properties are only rented to long-term tenants. Lastly, they’re looking for housing from a distance making them prone to scams since they can’t visit property locally. Chances of being scammed as an exchange student increase only as the exchange semester approaches and the student hasn’t found a room yet.

The ideal world – why ‘exchange’ should mean easy housing

An exchange is simple. University A and B agree to exchange a certain amount of students. For every student going one way, on average the same amount goes the other. If not, exchange coordinators are there to maintain the exchange balance. No matter how large the exchange network between universities becomes, no matter how many other universities join the awesome concept and network that is called international student mobility, the core concept always remains: for every student going one way, on average, another goes the other.

You can see me coming: ideally, exchange students could just sublet each other’s rooms while on exchange. Student from university A sublets the room from student from university B and vice versa.

Here’s the magic: it doesn’t need to be a direct swap at all. Only allowing direct room swaps in the network in fact reduces the chances exchange students can sublet each other’s room. The more universities join the exchange network, the more spread out and balanced the network becomes. Consider this:

• University A sends 8 students to University B and 4 to University C
• University B sends 3 students to University A and 7 to University C
• University C sends 8 students to University A and 3 to university B

When you only allow direct room swaps (a student going from A to B can only sublet from a student going from B to A), this network is far from ideal: University A sends 5 students more to University B than vice versa. University B sends 4 students more to University C than the other way around. University C sends 4 students more to University A than the latter does to the former.

For the universities, nothing bad happens. After all, they’re each sending 10-12 students and receiving about 10-12 students in total. When enforcing direct swaps, however, only about half of the students can sublet each other’s room -mimicking the fact that universities can’t exchange exactly the same number of students each semester but only balance out on average- the rest needs to find one on their own.

That’s why a direct swap system doesn’t work. Only a network where any student going to University A can sublet from a student coming from University A could work, because as mentioned above, every university must have about the same total amount of outgoing and incoming students.

Why universities can’t solve this on their own

University A could ask all their partner universities that their exchange students should sublet each other’s accommodation. But as mentioned previously, direct swaps cannot be enforced as this still leaves a lot of students without a room.

But imagine University A asking all of its partners that their students going on exchange to University A should sublet their room to student from University A going to them, without guaranteeing that student from University A will sublet their room to those students, but maybe to the students coming from another partner university.

That’s the end of the exchange rooms sublet network. Unless those partner universities do exactly the same as university A. They ask all of their partner universities to do the same, and so on.

The result is a network expanding across the whole exchange network of student mobility in higher education. In this network, the exchange balance is perfect. Of course, since every single exchange student in the world is an incoming and an outgoing student at the same time and the network encompasses every single institution for higher education participating in international student mobility.

This means every university’s outgoing student will find a room to sublet from a fellow exchange student at their exchange destination, no matter where the student they’re subletting from is going to.

Yes, I realize: this is the perfect world. So an important question arises.

How to take steps in direction of a perfect exchange housing network?

The perfect world doesn’t exists, but we can come remarkably close to it. A network encompassing every single student in the world can’t exist, and besides, not all students may be able to sublet their room and not all students have the bad luck of having to secure accommodation. Some get it guaranteed.

What’s the next best thing, you may ask. Well, I had the same question and I think I found an answer. It’s a platform where exchange students can sublet the room of fellow exchange students, and post their own room for sublet if available.

A platform like this can only follow the existing exchange network between universities, since exchange students can only go on exchange to partner universities -with some minor exceptions. The larger this network grows, the better it therefore represents the perfect exchange network described above, increasing the percentage of participating students finding a room.

This platform is external to universities because it needs to overarch them. Universities trying to start this concept in their own exchange network only will never success for the simple reason that they can’t ask incoming students to sublet their rooms without returning the favor. Because if they did return the favor, we’d be in a ‘direct room swap’ situation again which we discovered was far from optimal. Only an external platform that is paradoxically completely independent but also strictly follows the global exchange network can theoretically achieve the perfect network described earlier.

How to bring the platform the closest to the ideal network as possible

We established that only an external platform for exchange housing can theoretically reach a perfect exchange housing network. If every single exchange student is present on the platform, we know that the platform perfectly represents the ideal exchange housing network. Now, how can we improve this platform so it overlaps as close as possible with the ideal exchange housing network? In other words, how do you get as many exchange students as possible to use it? There are a number of ways.

First and foremost: local intensification. A university could ask their incoming and outgoing students to participate on the exchange housing platform. Once a couple of those students react and post their room, some direct room swaps will occur. But soon enough -definitely given the current housing shortage- students from other universities will see listed rooms that they need, join the platform and possibly post their own available room for sublet. Just like that, a local intensification started by one university can radiate outwards.

The next way to increase likeness between the platform and the ideal network, is the key domino. In a sequence of domino’s, only pushing the first one will get the most pieces to fall over. Likewise, one key student can have an impressive impact similar to the butterfly effect (the famous idea that a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a tornado after a sequence of consequences). Imagine a student in a city with a very big housing shortage. This student has a key role in the network. If they join the platform and post a listing, maybe twenty exchange students will join the platform of which maybe 6 post a room. These rooms will in turn attract new students, one of whom may also be a student with a room in a key city where the housing market is absolutely terrible. Will the 10 students who reacted to the first key student all get a room from that student? No, only 1 can and the other 9 will have to keep on searching. That sounds bad. But do you see the magic? The first key student didn’t only make just one student happy with their room in a highly desired city, they indirectly caused way more students to join the network down the line, increasing the chances of many other students searching for a room elsewhere. In the wake of the first key room getting posted, a cascade of students joined the platform, bringing us closer to the perfect network.

Last up is smart sharing. Here, I mean sharing in the social network sense. Students that don’t have a room to sublet or students who do have a room to sublet but in a much less popular city can indeed play a lesser role in the network. At the other hand, these disadvantaged students are more desperate to find a room and are therefore willing to take more frequent action to increase their chances. This is the grassroots approach, from the bottom up. Smart sharing means spreading word about the platform to more key nodes in the network. They can share it with their host university, who acts as an intermediary and lets their outgoing students know about the platform. This is the most direct way a student can trigger local intensification (which in itself is a way to grow the platform), increasing their chances to find a room. Secondly, they can spread the word online, in housing groups or forums. It’s an approach that’s not guaranteed of success, but as mentioned, these students -from a less popular area, having no room to sublet to someone else- are disadvantaged. Their course of action is outreach, and trusting the power of network.

Play your part!

So, what now?

If you made it this far, congratulations. I couldn’t have done it if someone else wrote this article. Glad that some people stick around for the entire ride.

Secondly, what concrete action can you take? Well, it’s good to know that the platform I describe already exists. I founded Exchange Rooms: a platform specifically designed for exchange students where they can sublet a room from a fellow exchange student and post their own if applicable. All users are verified confirming their student email address.

List Exchange Rooms as a way to find housing on your university’s housing page for outgoing and incoming exchange students. If you’re a student, join the community and post your room If available. Additionally, spread the word. Let your home and host university know, let your fellow students know, post online.

Want to do even more? Look into local housing regulations. Ask housing corporations, municipalities, or governments to make subletting a right if a student goes on exchange. This is already the case in some regions in the world, where students going on exchange have the legal right to sublet their room.

Let’s take steps towards this ideal world. For every step we take, accommodation for exchange students becomes easier, making student mobility more accessible.

If you have questions about Exchange Rooms or ideas to share, please let me know.

If you’re an institution and a specific student cannot afford the 10 euro fee for Exchange Rooms (only to be paid once you want to reach out to a student offering a room for sublet. Once paid, reaching out to other listings is unlocked forever. No returning or hidden fees), please reach out to me. We can arrange something to make it more accessible for everyone.