Where to find a room in Padova as an international student

Last checked 27 October 2026.

There is more than one way to find a room in Padova. This guide lists the official routes first, with what the University’s own pages say about each one and who can use it, and then explains how to approach the private market of ads and Facebook groups.

This site does not list rooms, introduce landlords or take commissions. It is an unofficial, student-run project, not connected to the University of Padova. Everything below comes from the University’s pages and the sources named at the end. Rules, dates and contacts change: check them on the official page before you rely on them.

Start early

The University’s page for Erasmus+ students says that the number of students looking for a room in Padova is very high, and that finding a place after the academic year has started is very difficult. University residences cannot meet all the requests they receive, and single rooms are very limited.

1. The International Housing Office and “Cerco Alloggio”

The University’s International Housing Office helps enrolled international students to find a room on the private market. According to its page, the services include:

• advice on the local housing market;
• translation of leases into English and explanation of the legal terms;
• a personalised search for housing;
• help with administrative procedures (including the hospitality declaration, dichiarazione di ospitalità, and leases).

Cerco Alloggio is the office’s tool. It offers fully furnished flats in Padova and in the other provinces where the University operates (Venezia, Vicenza, Rovigo, Treviso) to degree-seeking students, PhD students and students on international mobility.

Contact: housing@unipd.it · cercoalloggio.com/padova. Enrolled international students can also use the application form at cercoalloggio.com/international.

2. University residences: ESU and the Accommodation form

ESU is the regional agency for the right to university study. It offers places in its residences through a public selection each year: the fee depends on academic merit, the family’s economic situation (ISEE), the services and the residence chosen. The call, with requirements and deadlines, is published at the start of summer on the ESU website.

For Erasmus+ students coming to Padova, the University’s page says:

• Everyone has to fill in the Accommodation form on the ESU portal (SASSA Service), even if they will live in a private flat.
• Residence places are assigned in order of arrival of the applications, and nobody is guaranteed a room.
• At first only non-European students who need a study visa can apply for a place in residence. They are invited by email. European students are invited only if places remain after the first assignment.
• The page gives the deadlines 15 May to 30 June (first semester and whole year) and 16 September to 15 November (second semester). The same page still carries a Covid-era notice about appointments, so confirm the dates and the rules with ESU before relying on them.

Contact: SASSA Service, ESU Padova, sassa@esu.pd.it, esu.pd.it.

For short stays, ESU also has furnished rooms in its “foresterie” for people visiting Padova to study, teach or do research: weekly or monthly bookings, up to six months, at Agripolis (Legnaro) and at Copernico, Luzzatti and Villa Liberty (Padova).

3. Private colleges and residences

The University’s page lists private colleges and residences in Padova that students have to contact independently, among them Camplus, the Catholic university colleges and the Collegio Don Nicola Mazza. Some are for female students only and some are listed as sold out, so read each entry.

The University also has agreements with selected private operators that reserve places for international students. The International Housing Office page names the residences of the Collegio Don Nicola Mazza and the “Homstudent” rooms of Top Rent.

4. HousingAnywhere, the platform the University links to

For private flats, the University links to the HousingAnywhere x University of Padova platform. According to the University’s pages, listings come from “verified” landlords and agencies (the pages do not say how they are verified), and University of Padova students get a 20% discount on one of its fees.

On payments, the University’s Erasmus page and HousingAnywhere’s own help pages both say that the platform releases the payment to the landlord 48 hours after the move-in date. That is a rule about payments made on the platform, so it cannot protect money you send outside it. If someone you meet there asks you to pay outside it, that is a pattern worth stopping for: our guide on fake listings explains why.

Read the platform’s terms before you book. Link: housinganywhere.com/Padua—Italy/unipd/sign-up.

5. Cohabitation with a local resident

The Comune di Padova puts students in touch with local residents who offer rooms at affordable prices. The scheme is run by the Ufficio Progetto Giovani, at the Centro Culturale Altinate San Gaetano, second floor. According to the University’s page, it is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 13:30, and on Thursday also from 15:30 to 18:00. More information: progettogiovani.pd.it/coabitazione-intergenerazionale.

6. The private market: ads, agencies and Facebook groups

Many students end up here. Fake listings appear here too, and nobody checks the listings for you. In a survey of almost 9,000 exchange students by ESU and ESN, a quarter said they had met housing scams (see the statistics page for how this figure was checked). No route removes the risk completely. There are only checks you can make:

1. Read how to spot a fake room listing.
2. Send the ten questions before you pay anything.
3. See the room, in person or on a live video call, and read the written contract before you send money.
4. For advice on a contract, a deposit or discrimination, write to the Sportello Affitti (via Stratico 4a, Padova; Tuesday and Wednesday, 16:00 to 20:00; sportelloaffitti.padova@gmail.com). The University lists it on its housing page for international students.

How this guide was checked

• The University of Padova’s pages “Alloggi per studentesse e studenti internazionali” and “Accommodation - Erasmus+ for Studies”, read on 27 October 2026. Where a detail is stated by the University only (deadlines, who can apply, the Comune’s opening hours), the text says so. The Erasmus page still carries a Covid-era notice, so some details may be out of date.
• HousingAnywhere’s help page for landlords confirms the 48-hour payment rule (read on 27 October 2026).
• The 25% figure is on the summary page of the ESU and ESN International Student Housing Report (see statistics).
• This is not legal advice and not a recommendation of any provider: this site has no agreement with any of them and earns nothing from them.

Have a listing from the private market? Send it for a check: a serious red flag is always free.