Welcome to the Housing Guide

First things first:

    Never:

  •   ...pay anyone in advance. Never use WesternUnion, Moneybookers, Paypal, or cheques to pay anything related to rent before you come to Hamburg.
  • WesternUnion and Moneybookers are completely uncommon in Germany and never (close to 0%) used in Germany.
    

What to avoid when coming to a WG or apartment:

  • It is common that Students share apartments - this can be in a privately rented apartment or in a student dorm.
  • It is not part of the culture to share rooms, so you will stay in your own room and share the bathroom/kitchen with the others. If you want to bring your colleague, girlfriend or other to live with you for the semester or a prolonged period of time your flatmates will probably not like it.
   

What living in a dorm is like:

  • Usually, one floor has shared bathrooms and a shared kitchen with a common room for everybody on that floor.
  • In many dorms, there are additional rooms for the whole dorm: a gym, a study hall, a music room, a bar, or a sports hall.
  • There might be activities like movie nights, parties, etc. that you can attend and where you can meet new people!
  • Your housemates are always there for you - don't hesitate to get to know them and ask them questions!

 

What living in a WG is like:

  • WG = Wohngemeinschaft, meaning shared apartment
  • A WG can be 2, but also up to 10 people, that depends on the apartment and mindset of the people.
  • Some WGs are used only for sleeping and the roommates don't really do anything together, if that is the case they will tell you that beforehand. BUT: Most of the WGs are communities that care about a good atmosphere of living together and want to have a friendly relationship with their roommates.
  • Mostly, the WG-people care about who is going to move in and they will want to meet you before you can move in - they have to put up with you, right? So it can be easier to first get temporary housing, for example in a hostel, and then look at apartments and meet the people.

 

How much should I pay?

  • Rent typically consitsts of these parts:
  • Rent (Kaltmiete): In Hamburg: 5€-9€ per squaremeter
  • Costs for facilities: 3-5€ per square meter
  • Costs for heating: 0-2€ per square meter- usually goes together with costs for facilities, but can be extra
  • Costs for Internet - usually extra (ask)
  • Costs for electrical power - usually extra (ask)
  • Deposit - Should be maximum 3 times Rent (Kaltmiete) - everything else is scam
 

Where should I live?

  • If you find something: Take it!
  • Don't be too picky about it. The room situation is terrible in Hamburg
  • But if it's really far out? As a student you get a ticket which is valid for the whole public transport system, check here how long it takes you to uni: http://hvv.de
  • But what if it is just for a couple of months? Take it. You can get another place for a couple of months later.
 

What if I run into problems?

  • Two things to keep in mind:
  • Actually, read what is in your contract.
  • You can ask for help at the AStA of TUHH - they can also get you free legal advice if necessary.

 

How to find an apartment:

    There are various gateways.
    
 
 
 

Temprorary Housing