University kot, project kot, private rental or neighbouring town: how to find a home near UCLouvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, at what price and when to apply.
There are four ways to find a home near UCLouvain in Louvain-la-Neuve: a university kot, a project kot, a kot or studio rented from a private landlord in the town, or a home in a neighbouring municipality such as Ottignies, Wavre or Gembloux. The university kot is the cheapest and simplest, charges included, but you need to apply early. The private market offers more choice, at a higher price.
Demand is strong. According to RTBF, around 12,000 students live on the Louvain-la-Neuve campus each year, and the university offers more than 3,000 kots and studios there. In Wallonia, a room without private bathroom facilities rented for an average of €465 per month charges included in 2025, according to the Kotkompas study cited by RTBF.
This guide presents the options, the listed prices, the application timetable and the rules of the student lease in Wallonia. Beware of a common mix-up: UCLouvain is in Louvain-la-Neuve, in Walloon Brabant, and not in Leuven, the Flemish city of KU Leuven, where the rules and rents are different.
The university rents out its housing itself, with no intermediary, through its housing service (LOGE). It can house more than 5,700 students across its campuses. The homes are furnished and the charges (heating, water, electricity, cleaning of shared areas) are a flat fee included in the rent. Internet access, however, has to be arranged by the occupants. Bed linen, crockery and kitchen utensils are not provided.
Here are the monthly rent ranges, charges included, listed by UCLouvain for Louvain-la-Neuve:
The university also offers one-term contracts for Erasmus and exchange students, and short stays from one day to three months. Contract dates are fixed: 10-month contracts end in mid-July.
You must be duly enrolled at UCLouvain to get housing, but the online application can be submitted before your enrolment is complete. For 2026-2027, applications have been open since 31 March 2026. International students have their application processed once they have received their enrolment authorisation. The university warns that submitting an application does not guarantee housing, and that replies come from late May or June. In practice: apply as soon as applications open, and prepare a fallback on the private market.
The project kot (KAP) is an invention of Louvain-la-Neuve students: a shared apartment whose occupants run a project together (culture, music, solidarity, sport). The rent for a room in an activity project is €340 to €480 over 10 months. You apply through the Organe, the collective of project kots, or by contacting the kots directly. It is a demanding arrangement, which requires a real commitment to the life of the project.
The university supply is expanding slowly. According to La DH, 130 additional rooms are expected for the start of the 2027 academic year, on avenue du Ciseau, in 111 homes, mostly shared units of three or four rooms with at least one shower for two, plus studios and one-bedroom apartments.
If you don't get university housing, the private market takes over. UCLouvain has launched Etukot, a platform that brings together offers from private landlords in Louvain-la-Neuve and the surrounding area. General property portals and local agencies also list kots and studios.
The 2025 Kotkompas study, reported by RTBF, gives regional averages with charges included: €465 for a room without private bathroom facilities in Wallonia, €500 with private bathroom facilities, and €640 for a studio. Charges range from €85 to €150 depending on the type of home and the region. In Brussels, the average rent for a kot is €695. These are regional averages, not prices specific to Louvain-la-Neuve: compare them with current listings.
An extra cost can slip into the rent. Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve taxes homes occupied by people who are not registered residents, which covers most kots. According to La DH, the tax rose from €200 to €325 per year per room for certain student homes (€245 if the building has an EPC rating of A or B, €190 if the room is rented to a scholarship student). It is owed by the landlord, but the alderman for Finance admits it risks being passed on in the rent. Ask the landlord what the advertised price includes.
The university itself cites Ottignies, Wavre, Gembloux, Court-Saint-Étienne, Mont-Saint-Guibert and Chaumont-Gistoux as alternatives, reachable by public transport and often quieter. Check the actual journey to your faculty before signing, especially if you have early-morning classes.
Health sciences students at the Brussels Woluwe campus have their own offer: more than 1,000 university kots and studios, with direct access to central Brussels via metro line 1. Applications for 2026-2027 have been open there too since 31 March 2026.
If you are preparing your arrival from France or abroad, it is hard to view homes and react quickly when kots go within days. A Remoters home finder can search for you according to your faculty and budget, view homes, put together your application and review the lease before signing. The first conversation and the quote are free.
Short answers to the questions our readers ask, written to stand on their own.
Sources cited in this article
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