This article only applies for Long Stay. Click here to find more information about the difference between Long Stay and Short Stay housing.

Below we explain how to organize an introduction night of a self-contained accommodation from the perspective of the departing tenant as well as its housemates. What else you need to arrange after terminating your tenancy can be found on this page. 

Step 1: neighbours receives message

The departing tenant terminates his or her rental agreement. Sometimes the end date is already in a month, sometimes there is a longer time in between. Our system automatically calculates when the neighbours should receive a message about the rent cancellation, which is always 30 days before the specified end date. For example: if the contract is terminated with an end date of June 1, we will send an email on May 2.

Step 2: update house info and schedule introduction night 

Also update the house information; the more info you provide, the greater the chance that house hunters who are a good fit for you will come along. After communicating any internal moves, fill in the date of the introduction night. Without this date, we cannot advert the room - and the longer you wait, the fewer dates you have to choose from. Please note that internal moves ar not possible in this situation.

Step 3: inspection

We will schedule an inspection with the departing tenant. During an inspection, we will assess the accommodation's condition and provide guidance on its presentation on your final day of rent. The caretaker will also check that you have all the keys; to do this, review your rental rules and retrieve spare keys back from friends or family. Additionally, the caretaker will discuss with you whether a final inspection is required upon departure and how the key transfer will take place.

Step 4: room is online

The accommodation that becomes available will be advertised online. For three days, anyone registered with the SSH can apply for it. 

Step 5: compilation of candidate list

The response period closes after three days. We invite the 15 to 25 interested house hunters with the most registration time to the introduction night. These interested persons can confirm their interest via My SSH. Depending on the number of confirmations and cancellations, the dormitory will receive at least five candidates. You will receive the final candidate list with a minimum of five candidates 48 hours after the closing date. Are two rooms available at the same time in your house and is the hospiteeravond on the same day? Then the lists will be merged and you will find the same names in both rooms. It doesn't matter who you end up choosing for which room.

Step 6: arranging time with candidates

You approach the people on the candidate list and agree on a time with them. Do you hear that someone is not coming after all? Ask them to cancel via My SSH! If there are fewer than five candidates left and it is at least 24 hours before the introduction night starts, a new candidate is automatically invited. If that person indicates they would like to come, they will appear on your candidate list.

Step 7: choosing a new housemate

The introduction night takes place. Hopefully you will find a nice new housemate! Send the name of your new housemate through My SSH as soon as possible, but no later than 10:00 am the day after the introduction night. Your new housemate will of course be informed about this, accept the (draft) rental contract, provide the appropriate documents and make the first payment. Then the preparation for the move can begin!

Step 8: contact with the new tenant

The departing tenant receives an email with the contact details of the new tenant. Contact each other about a possible takeover of belongings. If the caretaker has indicated that you can arrange to hand over the keys among yourselves, you can also make an appointment for this. Do you (also) have a phone key from iLOQ? Then schedule a digital key transfer via My SSH (menu ‘Rent termination’). At the scheduled time, the rights of the departing tenant will expire and the new tenant will have access. In case you do not plan a digital key transfer, the new tenant will have access from the rent start date at 00:00.

Please confirm your new housemate's name  as soon as possible - but no later than the day after the introduction night at 10.00 am.  You can do so via My SSH.

Can we have additional candidates for our introduction night?

Our system automatically invites enough people for the introduction night. But, if four or less candidates have come to the introduction night, please contact us. We will discuss if there is still time for a new introduction night with new candidates. Please note that in a situation like this, we'll ask for the names of the people who did not show up at the introduction night. In all other situations, whether before or after the introduction night, we don't accept requests for additional candidates. We'll make sure that you receive a list of at least five candidates, and we assume that there is a suitable housemate among them. Do you want more candidates, for example because you have noticed that people sometimes drop out at the last minute? Or were there more than five candidates on the introduction night, but do you think none of them will fit the house? Unfortunately, we don't think that's a valid reason(s) to add candidates to the list. In addition, this can slow down the process, leaving the room in question unnecessarily empty.

Why do applicants call us before we've even received the list? 

The candidates in the first selection will have access to the house’s contact details upon confirmation. This is 24 hours before you receive the final candidate list. Although we communicate that you will contact them, they can (apparently) be a bit impatient, and contact you themselves. Quite annoying, especially for you. We’re doing our best to approach this differently during the further development of our system.

Can we get the candidate list a bit earlier? 

Our system automatically selects the 15 candidates (those with the longest registration period!) that will be invited to your introduction night or viewing. All candidates get 24 hours to let us know whether they’d like to attend. Depending on the number of cancellations, the system will invite a different group of candidates 24 hours after it sent out the initial invitation. They will again have the option to accept or decline. This will take a total of 48 hours, but at least provides you with a list of people that are genuinely interested!

Why are there such hard deadlines? 

We have automated our rental process to a large extent. The system recognizes each action and triggers the appropriate subsequent step. Although it may seem strict, the system operates without exceptions. For instance, if you forget to enter the date for your introduction night, the system will not advertise the vacant room. We have designed the system this way to ensure maximum efficiency in managing the large number of rooms and houses we rent. By automating these processes, we can focus on providing personal assistance to tenants with specific inquiries, rather than manually tracking every step of the rental process. Moreover, an automated process ensures fairness and transparency for everyone involved.