Find a room
Are you a refugee or asylum seeker looking for a place to stay?
We can support you in finding a room in a local flatshare. Living with locals can help you learn the language faster and get to know people in the community, and having supportive flatmates can be helpful in adjusting to a new location. We will help with any financial barriers to moving into your new home and ensure that your interests and expectations align with those of your host(s).
How does it work?
You register on the website of your local Refugees Welcome team. All we need is some information on your status, housing needs, and shared living expectations in order to find a good fit for you.
A member of our team will contact you and connect you with a potential host in your area. We will facilitate a meet-up between you and the host so you can get to know one another and find out if you get along.
If you and the host are a good fit, you move into your new flat! If not, we will keep looking for potential matches for you. After you move into your new apartment, we will always be available to address any remaining questions or comments regarding your new living arrangement.
Finding a Room
Please visit the website of your country’s Refugees Welcome team to register for a room. Unfortunately, we do not have teams in every country. If you are currently in a country that is not listed below, we are unable to support you in finding housing at this time. We encourage you to seek out other organisations that are active in your area.
Frequently Asked Questions
In a flatshare, different people live together who are not part of the same family. Flatmates are often friends, but that’s not always the case. In a shared flat, each person has their own room to sleep and relax in, but everyone shares the kitchen and bathroom. In some cases the flat may also have a shared living room. All flatmates have the same rights and obligations, meaning that all flatmates clean the apartment in equal measure and might even cook and eat together. In some flatshares, people are very good friends and pursue activities together outside the apartment. This is not a requirement for a successful shared living arrangement, however, and it’s okay if you don’t want to be close friends with your new flatmates.
We will facilitate at least one in-person meeting with your host before you move into their open room. We will never pressure you to accept an offer from a host you do not want to live with. If you decide to move out early, we will support you in that as well – our priority is making sure you are in a living environment that is suited to you.
We arrange rooms in flats and houses with people who are currently looking for a flatmate. These can be students, families, or single people, and may depend on the country in which you are seeking housing.
If you have received the right to work in the country you are living in, you will usually be expected to pay the rent yourself. If you are still in the asylum process, however, you are only entitled to minimal social benefits upon leaving mass accommodations. In this case you can receive financial support from us to cover the expenses of your room.
During the first meeting, you and the host will get to know each other and you will get to see the vacant room. After the visit, you can decide if you want to live with the host or not. You will never be forced to take a room and can decide freely whether you want to move in or not.
We strive to meet special requests as best we can. Special circumstances we are able to accommodate include pet allergies, a preference for living with those of the same gender, and a need for an LGBTQIA-supportive living environment. We are committed to making sure that you move into a flatshare in which you feel safe and supported.
Living together also means taking care of the household together. This is done differently in every flatshare: many flatshares work together to make a cleaning plan, for example, that dictates who is responsible for cleaning shared rooms (such as the kitchen and bathroom) and on which day. Cleaning your room and personal spaces will be your responsibility.
Expectations around cooking and eating also vary depending on the flatshare. In some shared flats, everything is bought together and grocery costs are split evenly. In other shared flats, everyone buys and cooks their own food.
Of course! If your flatmates cause problems for you in this regard, please get in touch with us immediately. Over the course of the match process, we do our best to screen hosts and exclude anyone we find to have bigoted or xenophobic attitudes as early in the process as possible. Should you nevertheless experience racism in your flat, please contact us directly.
Yes, you can continue to cook and eat according to your preferences and dietary restrictions. You are not expected to change your eating habits when you move into your new flat.
Do you need a translator?
Our partner organisation Tarjimly offers free translation services through an app on your phone. Find info how to use their service on their website.