Living on your own
The amount of student finance you can receive depends on your living situation.
Living on your own
To receive student finance for students living on their own, you need to:
- be registered with the municipality on an a different address than your parent(s), and
- actually live on the registered address.
Changing living situation
If you move away from home, you must change your living situation yourself in Mijn DUO. Your eligibility is based on the situation on the 1st of the month. We automatically receive your address from the municipality, so you don't need to provide it to us.
I cannot register on a different address than my parents’
Are you unable to register on a different address than your parents’ address? If one of the following situations applies, you can apply for an exception, so you still receive a basic grant for living away from home:
- You are doing an internship in the Netherlands and you cannot register on the address where you live during your internship.
- You are doing an internship shorter than 8 months outside the Netherlands and you remain registered at your parents' address.
- Your parents are seafarers or inland skippers and they are registered on your address.
- You are staying on board a ship as part of your education.
- You are staying in a shelter for victims of domestic abuse, or a similar facility.
- You do not have a fixed address.
- The municipality refuses to register you.
You are not eligible for an exception for having problems with your landlord. Your landlord is obliged to let you register on the address. If your landlord refuses to do so, we advise you to report this to the municipality.
Apply for an exception
First make sure you have applied for the basic grant. Then you can apply for an exception if you can’t register on a different address than your parents’.
- Log into Mijn DUO.
- Go to ‘Mijn producten’ and click ‘Studiefinanciering’.
- Go to ‘Privésituatie’.
- Under ‘Uitzondering inschrijving gemeente’, click ‘Uitzondering aanvragen’.
If you cannot log into Mijn DUO, please use the Aanvraag uitzondering inschrijving gemeente form to apply for an exception.
Log in to Mijn DUOLog in to Mijn DUO
Checks on students living away from home
We perform checks for all grants to make sure payment has been justified.
Reviewing registration data of the municipality
You are living away from home if
- you are registered with the municipality at an address other than that of your parent(s)
- and you live at the address where you are registered.
Checks on supporting documents
We check whether students are actually living away from home, when they apply for a grant for living away from home. We do this on a random basis.
During such a check of evidence, you will be asked to send one or more documents to check whether you live at the address you have provided.
Documents that may be requested include:
- rental contract and 2 digital proofs of rent payments
- A signed statement from your renter
- A signed statement from an independent third party, such as your dean or care provider
- A parking permit at your address.
You may also email us other evidence. As long as the evidence clearly shows that you live at the address at which you are registered. You do not need to send an official extract from the municipality.
Checks through house calls
If you receive a grant for students living away from home, we will check if you are living away from both of your parents. We do this by reviewing the registration data of the municipality and through house calls.
On the Privacy Statement page, you can find more information about how DUO conducts this check and which personal details are used.
Did you study between January 2012 and June 2023 and was your living situation checked? If your grant for students living away from home was stopped after that and you had to pay back an amount to DUO, you may get that amount back. You can read more information on this page (in Dutch).
After the check
If you have been assessed and DUO determines you are not living away from home, your grant for living away from home may be withdrawn. You will have to repay any excess amount you received.