Do you have a spare room or flat and need help with your everyday life? Then "Wohnen für Hilfe" (living for help) offers many advantages for you!

Brief overview

Advantages of a housing partnership
Your way to Wohnen für Hilfe
Contact

Advantages of a flat-sharing partnership

A flat-sharing partnership offers the key advantage of having someone in the house who provides reliable and continuous support in everyday life. The specific nature of this support depends on the individual situation:

Advantages for older people: Support with physically demanding tasks (gardening, shopping, housework) or handling technical devices (tablets, smartphones, etc.), facilitating mobility (live-in partner with driving licence/own car)
Benefits for families/single parents: Household support, homework help, tutoring, babysitting/childcare
Benefits for people with disabilities: household support, easier mobility

Your way to Wohnen für Hilfe

1. Initial considerations

Think about whether "Wohnen für Hilfe" is right for you. You should be able to answer the following points with ‘yes’:

I approach the living environment of (international) students with an open, interested and unbiased attitude.
The everyday life of students and young people probably differs from your own in many ways. Living together can be enriching if everyone involved gets involved. The same applies to living together with international students, who are often very interested in ‘living for help’. This offers the opportunity to experience a new culture within your own four walls.
I am flexible and willing to make compromises.
Students are subject to a heavy workload, especially during examination periods, and may be able to provide less support than usual during this time. If you are flexible and willing to compromise, your flatmate will most likely honour this and be happy to volunteer for you at the next opportunity!
I have thought about which tasks I need help with.
Normally, students' support activities are in the area of household help, gardening, companionship, company or help with shopping. What you shouldn't expect is specialised work, as most students are simply not trained for this. This includes, for example, care work or renovation work on the house.
I have obtained an overview of my utility costs.
Flatmates do not pay rent, but do contribute to the utilities on a pro rata basis. Think about what you have been paying in utilities so far and what share the flatmate should pay. Bear in mind that consumption-based service charges such as electricity or water will be higher with another person in the household.

2. Application

If you are interested in a housing partnership, simply contact us without obligation!
Tel: 0261 9528-981
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you wish, you can already fill out the application form, otherwise we will do this together at our first appointment.

Application form for accommodation providers (PDF) (DE)

3. Preliminary discussion with the "Wohnen für Hilfe" team

Your wishes, preferences and needs are very important to us and we are happy to take these into account when making a placement.
In order to get an idea of which student is best suited to you, we will arrange an initial meeting at your home. We will visit the proposed room and talk about the conditions under which you can imagine living together. If you have not yet completed the application form, we will do this together.

4. Introductory meeting with a flatmate

We will introduce you to a suitable student at a second meeting. In a personal meeting, you can get to know each other and discuss your ideas about the housing partnership. Please consider these topics in particular:

Support services: Determine the number of hours and the scope of the support services sensibly: how many hours you require is up to you. You can use the following guideline as a guide: one hour of help per month for one square metre of living space - based on the rented room. You should bear in mind that students can usually do a little less during the examination period. Also take into account the time the student needs to get to the university/college.
Expectations: Make sure that the flatmate fits in with your living situation and discuss issues that affect your everyday life together, e.g. rest periods, visiting friends, cooking together and doing things together.
Attendance: Discuss whether longer absences are planned, for example during the semester break or at weekends.
Utilities: Agree on how you want to regulate the amount and billing of utilities (including electricity, water, heating). A flat rate is often a good option. A clear agreement in advance prevents surprises afterwards.
Internet: Inform your potential flatmate whether and how you can provide them with internet access.

5. Trial living

If the chemistry is right at the introductory meeting, nothing stands in the way of a trial living. Here you can try out whether the housing partnership feels right for you. You can arrange the duration of the trial living on an individual basis.

6. Signing the contract

If everything went smoothly during the trial living, you are ready for the last step on the way to ‘Living for Help’: You sign a housing transfer agreement with the student, which forms the basis for living together. The agreements you make in this contract are generally up to the two parties.