What Hospi Housing does

Hospi Housing is a Dutch homestay and homesharing platform founded in 2019 by Daan Donkers, Joost Bokkers, and Maurits Barendregt, headquartered in Utrecht as a VOF (general partnership). The platform addresses the Dutch housing shortage by connecting hosts with spare rooms — homeowners, families, and increasingly professional landlords — with tenants seeking affordable accommodation, primarily students, international students, expats, and young professionals. Core functionality includes property listings, host verification through personal intake, search and matching, in-platform messaging, digital contract signing, and deposit management. The technology is a self-serve web platform (hospihousing.com) with no mobile app and no disclosed API.

The business model is freemium on the host side and freemium with a paid Premium tier on the tenant side. Hosts use the platform completely free of charge; tenants can register and search without cost but can upgrade to a Premium membership at €19.99 for 2 months, which grants early access to listings, unlimited chat requests, priority ranking, and a 100% refund if a successful match occurs. Revenue is therefore concentrated in tenant Premium conversions rather than host fees or transaction commissions. Distribution is hybrid: a self-serve product-led funnel combined with enterprise-style outreach by co-founder Joost Bokkers to municipalities and housing corporations, plus community-led word-of-mouth.

Hospi Housing claims the position of largest homestay rental platform in the Netherlands, with 5,000+ hosts, 50,000+ registered tenants, 2,000+ successful matches, and 185+ nationalities represented. It is integrated with 100+ municipalities and 50+ housing corporations across the Netherlands, including Gemeente Eindhoven (Flagship), Gemeente Maastricht, Gemeente Groningen, Gemeente Rotterdam, Portaal, Talis, and Woonwaarts, among others. In 2025 the company expanded into the professional landlord segment and rolled out digital contract signing, deposit management, and contract selection features, and in 2026 it joined the Geef Tijdelijk Thuis alliance with Kamers met Aandacht and Onder de Pannen. Regulatory engagement includes active support for the Homestay Rental Bill sent to Dutch Parliament in July 2026.

Name

Hospi Housing

Legal name

Hospi Housing, VOF

Website

https://hospihousing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rental Housing Marketplace

NAICS

Residential Property Managers (531311)

SIC

Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)

akta.pro primary industry

Co-Living Property Management (BPAJAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Student Housing Roommate Matching, Assignments & Occupancy Management (BPAJAJAJ), Co-Living / Hybrid Extended-Stay Residences (THAGAEAK), Co-Host / On-the-Ground Operations & Guest Services (BPAJAIAI)

Keywords

• Homestay rental platform
• Housing marketplace
• Room rental services
• Rental matching platform
• Homeshare platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Utrecht

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tenant Premium Membership: Tenants pay a one-time fee of €19.99 for a 2-month Premium subscription. Premium members get early access to listings, unlimited chat requests, and are ranked higher on host lists. If a Premium member finds housing through Hospi Housing, the Premium cost is deducted from their first payment (100% refund concept).
2. Host Platform Services (Free): Hosts and landlords use the platform completely free of charge. From registration and personal intake to contract assistance and ongoing support, no fees are charged to hosts. Revenue is not generated directly from hosts but through tenant Premium upgrades.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Hospi Housing operates a Dutch web-based marketplace that connects hosts with spare rooms to tenants seeking affordable housing. The platform supports the full rental lifecycle including personal matchmaking, contract selection and digital signing, deposit management, and ongoing support throughout the rental period. Hosts use the platform free of charge while tenants can upgrade to a paid Premium membership for enhanced visibility and faster matching. The company also runs separate B2B programs with municipalities, housing corporations, and universities for campaigns, research, and policy support addressing the Dutch housing shortage.

Product overview

Hospi Housing operates as a unified platform connecting hosts, guest families, and landlords with people seeking housing in the Netherlands. The core platform provides listing management, personal matchmaking, contract handling, deposit management, and ongoing rental support. Additional services include a Premium Membership add-on for enhanced tenant visibility (€19.99/2 months), Direct Invite for bringing external tenants onto the platform, Choose Your Own Contract for flexible contract selection, Online Contract Signing for digital agreement execution, and Deposit Payment Management for secure fund handling. The Landlord Platform extension serves professional property owners with multiple units.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hospi Housing Platform Self-serve online marketplace where individual hosts list spare rooms, studios, or apartments and tenants search for and match with housing. Includes personal intake, matchmaking, contract selection, digital contract signing, deposit handling, and rental support throughout the rental period. Free for hosts; tenants register for free with optional paid Premium upgrade.
• Premium Membership for Tenants Paid add-on subscription for tenants costing €19.99 for 2 months that provides early access to new listings, unlimited chat requests, instant email/WhatsApp notifications, saved searches, higher ranking on host lists (up to 10x better match chances), and a 100% refund of the Premium fee if the tenant is successfully matched.
• Landlord Platform Extension Extended platform offering for professional landlords with studios, apartments, or houses to list multiple units, source verified tenants, and access the same contract, deposit, and payment infrastructure as homestay hosts.
• Municipality & Housing Corporation Partnership Program B2B engagement service for Dutch municipalities, housing corporations, and universities that includes joint homestay campaigns, housing market research and insights, policy implementation support, pilot program design (e.g., permit-free rental pilots), and dedicated relationship management to address local housing shortages without new construction.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to €6,633 tax-free income per year for hosts
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Geef Tijdelijk Thuis (Kamers met Aandacht, Onder de Pannen)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026Partnership of three organizations sharing the mission to create more affordable, temporary, and social housing. Hospi Housing focuses on students and starters, while Kamers met Aandacht helps young people leaving youth care, and Onder de Pannen assists people in housing crisis. Together they represent 140+ collaborations with municipalities and housing corporations.
• Gemeente MaastrichtcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration between Gemeente Maastricht and Maastricht University to promote homestay rental and increase student housing options in the city.
• Gemeente GroningencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality of Groningen started collaboration with Hospi Housing due to major housing shortage. The city does not actively enforce restrictions on homestay renting while new rules are being prepared.
• Portaal, Mitros, Bo-Ex, Cazas WonencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial housing corporations that started collaboration with Hospi Housing to help their tenants sublease rooms through homestay rental programs.
• Gemeente LeidencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality of Leiden and Hospi Housing launched a campaign to promote homestay rental, extending their partnership with housing corporation Portaal joining the campaign.
• Gemeente RotterdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality of Rotterdam started campaign to promote Homestay for Students due to high demand for student rooms. Housing alderman visited local hosts and tenants.
• Gemeente EindhovenflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerEindhoven was the first municipality in North Brabant to actively promote Homestay Rental as a solution to housing shortage. All 9 municipalities in the greater Eindhoven region are now actively promoting homestay rental through expanded partnership.
• Gemeente HaarlemcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Haarlem launched campaign with Hospi Housing to address growing housing shortage through promoting homestay rental. Two alderpersons visited host and tenant matches.
• Gemeente ArnhemcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPhase 2 of homestay rental campaign started in Arnhem after successful first phase with over 900 applications from room searchers and 35 hosts.
• Gemeente 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwo-year pilot with municipality and housing corporations (Mooiland, JOOST, BrabantWonen, Zayaz) to allow rental of up to 2 rooms without permit, encouraging homesharing.
• Woningcorporatie Anna PaulownacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHousing association Anna Paulowna launched homesharing pilot in municipality Hollands Kroon, allowing tenants to rent out rooms with permission. No municipal permit required for the pilot.
• Portaal, Talis, WoonwaartscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThree housing corporations launched pilot with municipality of Nijmegen to promote homestay rental and provide more affordable housing for residents.
• Gemeente ZaanstadcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2024, municipality of Zaanstad actively promoting Homestay Rental as a solution to housing shortage. Alderman visited local hosts and tenants to gather experiences.
• Gemeente WageningencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHomestay rental in Wageningen became more popular with up to 400 students in homestay situations in past 3 years. Successful campaign being prolonged.
• Gemeente TilburgcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTilburg presented new housing policy for 2025-2030 focusing on better use of existing homes. Clarified homestay rental policy in new regulations.
• Gemeente The Hague (Den Haag)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Hague eased rules for homesharing and housing sharing as of April 1, 2026. Also clarified rules for residents receiving social assistance to keep up to €415/month from room rental.
• Gemeente AlmerecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality of Almere and Hospi Housing launched partnership to promote homesharing as an important step to increase affordable housing potential.
• Gemeente OldenzaalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality wants to make home sharing easier with potentially free permits for homesharing and co-living arrangements.
• Gemeente PurmerendminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPurmerend eased homestay rules to allow residents to rent out two rooms without a permit, encouraging home sharing.
• Gemeente AmsterdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmsterdam eased regulations allowing people on social assistance to keep part of their homestay rental income, making room sharing more accessible.
• Gemeente Midden-GroningenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality of Midden-Groningen preparing new rules for homestay rental, allowing it under certain conditions without requiring permits in some cases.
• ASN BankminorOthersASN Bank conducted research showing nearly 60% of Dutch residents support stimulating homesharing and homestay rentals as a way to reduce housing shortages.
• Platform31minorOthersKnowledge center that explored what the Netherlands can learn from neighboring countries regarding homestay renting practices.
• Maastricht UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partnered with Gemeente Maastricht and Hospi Housing to promote housing options for international students.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kamernet: Largest Dutch student and young professional room-rental platform. Operates a two-sided marketplace connecting landlords and room seekers in the Netherlands, directly competing with Hospi for the same tenant persona though with a broader (not homestay-specific) inventory and less institutional/municipal distribution.
• Room.nl: Dutch student-focused room rental platform with roommate-matching features. Directly comparable on student tenant persona and roommate-matching functionality, though without Hospi's emphasis on homestay living-with-host model or municipal/government distribution.
• Spotahome: Mid-to-long-term online rental platform offering verified listings primarily across Europe for students and professionals. Comparable on tenant-facing booking flow and verification approach, though broader inventory and not focused on homestay specifically.
• HousingAnywhere: International student housing marketplace operating across Europe with verified listings and landlord-tenant matching. Directly comparable on the international-student tenant persona Hospi serves, though with a broader geographic footprint and longer-established landlord relationships.
• Kamers met Aandacht: Dutch platform focused on homesharing for young people leaving youth care. Strategic partner within the Geef Tijdelijk Thuis alliance alongside Hospi, operating a similar two-sided matching model for a more narrow beneficiary segment with comparable municipal/government engagement.
• Onder de Pannen: Dutch homesharing platform assisting people in housing crisis. Sister organization in the Geef Tijdelijk Thuis partnership, using a comparable matching model with strong municipal relationships and verification processes aimed at a different (more vulnerable) tenant segment.

Broad incumbents

• Airbnb: Global short-term rental marketplace where Dutch hosts already list spare rooms. While operating on different rental duration norms, Airbnb competes for the same host-side inventory (people with spare rooms) and demonstrates a benchmark for scaled two-sided rental marketplaces.
• Funda: Dutch leading real estate marketplace for buying, selling, and renting properties. Overlaps with Hospi's landlord/tenant matching functionality as part of a much broader property portal offering but does not specialize in homestay or institutional municipal partnerships.

Emerging players

• Nestpick: Global furnished rental platform with focus on mid-term stays for students and professionals. Comparable on tenant demographics and verified listings model, but with international scope rather than Netherlands-only homestay specialization.

Regional players

• Huurwoningen.nl: Dutch rental property aggregator listing apartments and rooms from various landlords. Comparable on tenant-side search and discovery within the Netherlands but without Hospi's homestay specialization, municipal partnerships, or verification-first approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Hospihousing
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hospi-housing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hospi Housing