Studying abroad in Belgium

As luck would have it, there is a very strong chance that I will be studying in Leuven for about 4 months sometime between now and December. Nothing is final yet, so I will holdback my food-related inquiries, but I'm wondering if someone knows general rent ranges in the area, whether short-term leases are available, and any apartment finding resources. My girlfriend will likely come too, so we'd be looking for a 1 bedroom or larger I assume. I am just getting started in doing research, but thought I would post general questions here early on as I recall several people (or at least several posts) alluding to the fact that they had spent time in Belgium. Any advice/help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Abraus wrote:As luck would have it, there is a very strong chance that I will be studying in Leuven for about 4 months sometime between now and December. Nothing is final yet, so I will holdback my food-related inquiries, but I'm wondering if someone knows general rent ranges in the area, whether short-term leases are available, and any apartment finding resources. My girlfriend will likely come too, so we'd be looking for a 1 bedroom or larger I assume. I am just getting started in doing research, but thought I would post general questions here early on as I recall several people (or at least several posts) alluding to the fact that they had spent time in Belgium. Any advice/help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Leuven is a university town and so there are a lot of living quarters of all sorts geared for students. The last couple of times I rented places there, I did quite well in finding spaces I liked in places I liked at reasonable prices, but it helped that I had a place to stay while I was looking and also that I speak Dutch fluently. But that was a good while ago. Since then, with the development of Brussels as capital of Europe and the related rise in property values both in Brussels itself and in all the surrounding area, I know prices in Leuven have also gone up (Leuven is a very short commute away from Brussels). So, I can't give any specifics but I doubt rental prices are all that different from around here, though I would expect that one could find something comfortable for a reasonable price.

If you're affiliated with the university, you should contact their student services -- I don't remember them being all that helpful back when I was a student but that was a long time ago. I suspect they've gotten better. I know for visiting faculty they do a nice job but that's a whole other matter.

If you're going this time of year, the market will obviously be tight, in which case any help you can get from the university might be especially important; they might have central listings of places that were vacated during the academic year. That might include some of the university owned properties, some of which I think is intended for foreign students (b-school, theology)-- and here I don't mean the university dorms (room, access to kitchen and bog) which is clearly not what you're looking for.

I don't think there have been any reports from Belgium here other than the ones I've posted, including two on Leuven.

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=60676#60676
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=50684#50684

I have a couple more sitting in the archives that I ended up not posting; maybe it's time to dig them out.

Veel geluk,
Antonius

Antonious,

Thanks very much. I foolishly did not search for Leuven directly, but I'm sure yours were the posts I was recalling. Thanks for the info and with luck I will be posting some additional food/beer inquiries with pics to follow as the year unfolds.

I also foolishly spelled your name wrong. My apologies Antonius.

Abraus wrote:I also foolishly spelled your name wrong. My apologies Antonius.

Geen probleem/pas de problème.

Let me know if you have further, more specific questions -- maybe p.m.-ing would be more appropriate for that.

met vriendelijke groeten,
Antonius