Important information concerning your housing application
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Only students or prospective students of the universities affiliated to the Studierendenwerk Heidelberg can apply (see FAQs – Eligibility to live in residences)
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You can send in an application even if you have not yet received an admission certificate or if you are not yet a matriculated student. However, proof of matriculation must be handed in at the latest 4 weeks after the beginning of the contract. If this is not provided then you are not entitled to accommodation - this entails an immediate termination of the rental contract.
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Due to the generally high demand for student residences (especially for the winter semester), we cannot offer all students a dormitory place; a residence application does not guarantee a dorm room and is not binding; We also advise you to look for alternatives (for example, private rooms and other residences)
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The beginning of the leases is coordinated with the semester periods of the universities. Admission to a different date is only possible with appropriate availability.
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Applications for the upcoming winter semester are possible starting 1 April, applications for the upcoming summer semester starting 1 October of the previous year; if we are unable to offer you a dormitory room for the desired semester, your application will automatically be deleted and you will have to apply again for the following semester if you are still interested
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Deadlines: there are no fixed application deadlines. However, we should have received your application by 15th July for the winter semester and 15th January for the summer semester, since this is when we begin to arrange rooms and send out rental contracts. Applications received after this have fewer chances of securing a room and a smaller selection of room to choose from.
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Only one application can be submitted per person; multiple applications will not be considered!
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Our rooms in shared flats are generally not separated according to gender (with the exception of 2-room shared flats), religion and nationality
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Admission: admission generally proceeds on a first-come first-served basis.
As we receive many applications from international students regularly, we are trying to implement a fair share of different nationalities in our student residences. For this reason applicants from nations that are already highly represented in our student residences, might have to wait a little longer until we are able to assign them a room.
As an international student, you should hand in a proof of finance for the further processing of your housing application (a statement that shows how you will finance your degree in Germany; a document with this information is often required when applying for a visa. Examples of this kind of document are: declaration of suretyship [e.g. by parents], proof of scholarship, proof of a bank account [e.g. blocked account]). Please send any documents to the following email address: wohnen[at]stw.uni-heidelberg[dot]de. More information concerning admission can be found in the usage regulations (Benutzungsordnung – available in German only) and admission criteria.
Information about the application procedure
We begin to sort out accommodation for the following semester from around the middle of July (winter semester) and the middle of January (summer semester). For this reason we cannot provide any concrete information about the status of your application before the end of August/beginning of September and before the end of February/beginning of March.
Please note: We kindly ask you to refrain from calling us about the status of your application before the beginning of September and the beginning of March.
Anyone who has not received a room offer from us until 10 days before the desired start of the contract has very little chance and must expect not to receive a room offer. As experience has shown, there are always short-term resignations / cancellations. Therefore applicants might still get a room offer after the semester starts. Cancellations are generally not sent.
How do I increase my chances of getting a dorm room?
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Apply early - preferably half a year in advance
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Apply for dormitories with many rooms; in smaller dormitories, the chances of getting a room are much worse
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Specify several housing complexes when applying (three possible), be flexible in your choice. You can also specify additional locations by the notes
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Most important: Do not apply exclusively for single apartments, but also for rooms in shared flats; otherwise the chances are extremely low to hopeless
