HousingAnywhere Reviews 

They don’t help you with unreliable landlords, who don’t want to register you (even when it’s required by law) or give you a contract.

€625 rent, plus €250 for "Tenant Protection." Here is what that fee actually buys.

The room rented via the platform was unusable — mosquitoes entering through the building, still appearing after I kept every window closed for a full day.

I reported it on the platform at 06:55 on 26 August. Move-in was 24 August at 14:30, so roughly 40 hours later, inside the 48-hour window.

Refused. Then I was given three different deadlines by the same company: one agent said the window closed on 26 August, another said 23:59 on 25 August, and the help centre defines it as 48 hours from move-in, which is 14:30 on 26 August.

They also insist that only their "Cancel Rental" form counts — not email, not chat. That form never appeared in my conversation; the menu showed only Shortlist, Archive and Mark as unread. I asked three times why. No answer, in any of their replies. I was refused for failing to use a channel they never gave me.

Their final position: the money has gone to the landlord, so talk to the landlord. The landlord decided to keep the money although I moved out after 2 days of sleep deprivation in the apartment.

That is the structure. A fee for protection, a narrow window, a mandatory form that may or may not exist on your booking, no accountability when it doesn't, and a handoff to the other party once your money is out of reach. €875 for two nights.

HousingAnywhere advertises a seamless, safe booking process, but their platform practices are deceptive and their support team offers zero actual consumer protection.

During the booking flow, HousingAnywhere explicitly displays a "Preview contract" feature assuring users that they will receive a final, formal rental contract to sign online once the booking is approved. Based on this explicit interface guarantee, we completed the booking and paid the first month’s rent upfront.

Immediately after payment was processed, the landlord explicitly refused in the chat to provide any written lease agreement, stating it was "not possible" for our stay length. In Germany, a written contract is standard and critical for legal compliance and registration (Anmeldung).

When we contacted HousingAnywhere Support to report this direct breach of what was guaranteed on their interface, their team washed their hands of any responsibility. Instead of enforcing their own advertised terms or holding the host accountable, support claimed that providing a written contract was "not mandated" by their platform and refused to issue a refund—releasing the funds to the non-compliant host anyway.

HousingAnywhere uses misleading UI representations to secure bookings and processing fees, then shifts all risk and burden onto tenants when hosts refuse to deliver on those platform guarantees. We were forced to initiate a formal bank chargeback to recover our funds.

Avoid this platform if you expect transparent terms, accurate interface representations, or meaningful customer protection.

I just moved inside. The apartment and my room are absolutely dirty. Leftover food are in the shelf’s of the room, dust everywhere, furniture is broken and not shown as in the picture. The all floor is dusty and sticky. The bathroom is absolutely disgusting, everything is dusty, moldy and empty bottles are laying around. There’s trash everywhere in front of the main door. There’s trash in the room from the guy before me. The fridge is completely full with moldy food and leaking stuff. The bathtub, toilet and laundry machine are all sticky and moldy and dusty.

I have been unable to access my rented apartment for three days, despite having a signed contract, because the security deposit payment platform is not working. We have been complaining and requesting assistance for three days, but all they can say is “sorry” and they are not providing any solution.

Oscar was a superb host: friendly, accommodating, and always quick to answer questions about the apartment or the city. Check-in and check-out were seamless. The location is excellent for exploring Barcelona, with cafés and supermarkets just downstairs. The apartment was clean, charming, and very well maintained. Everything felt solid and in great condition. I would definitely stay here again.

Flawless experience, no issues. We were a little apprehensive due to lack of reviews, but had no issues at all. Payments, communication with the landlord, questions on process, contracts, etc were all super easy. The apartment was as listed, actually nicer. We will definitely use the site again for our next trip.

I booked with Marco and he is very responsive, supportive and kind. He is incredibly accommodating and really just wants you to have a good experience. The apartment was as described!

Refusing Tenant Protection refund for missing landlord (Booking ID: 2850980)
Date of booking: May 20, 2024

HousingAnywhere is withholding €1,080.00 for Booking ID [ 2850980] after my landlord was completely inaccessible on my move-in date. I reported this via the platform within the strict contractual 48-hour timeframe, completely fulfilling my tenant obligations.Front-line support is using a procedural loophole to deny their own Tenant Protection policy, claiming I should have emailed them first instead of filling out the cancellation form. Because they refuse to honor Paragraph 15 of their own Terms, I have officially lodged a formal cross-border complaint against HousingAnywhere B.V. with the European Consumer Centre (ECC Net Italy) under Case Number: [ECCIT-91266].I am seeking a full refund of my €800 rent and €280 fee. I will update this review as legal mediation proceeds, but the corporate compliance team can resolve this breach of contract immediately by issuing my long-overdue refund.

UPDATE 1 (September 2,2026): I have already sent a comprehensive Formal Notice containing my ECC Case Number and full documentation directly to your support email address. Please have a senior compliance manager review that notice and reply to it directly. I will also log a message in the platform chat as requested, but please be advised that my cross-border legal dispute with ECC Net Italy (Case Number:ECCIT-91266) for the full €1,080.00 remains fully active until a monetary refund is processed.

UPDATE 2 (September 4,2026)
HousingAnywhere sent a generic copy-paste reply trying to hide behind a "48-hour post-move-in guarantee window." This is factually false and completely irrelevant to my case.I did not file a late claim after moving in. I officially cancelled the rental using the platform's cancellation form on July 27, 2024—4 days BEFORE the lease even began—because the landlord went completely missing and was entirely inaccessible. I emailed support on that exact same day to report the advertiser's breach of contract.Despite being warned in writing 4 days prior to move-in, HousingAnywhere chose to trigger the move-in countdown anyway and negligently released my funds to a missing landlord. My cross-border case with ECC Net Italy (Case Number: [ECCIT-91266) is fully active, and I have provided them with all July 27 timestamped proof.

I have issued a formal notice to their corporate headquarters with a strict 5-business-day deadline. I will not remove or change this review until my full €1,080.00 (€800 rent + €280 fee) is refunded to my bank account.

I am a recent graduate stranded in Rome because HousingAnywhere is refusing to protect me from a fraudulent landlord. My booking ID is...

The landlord demanded a security deposit via an external bank IBAN transfer, actively lied about platform fees, and refused to provide the property's physical address on my move-in day. When I insisted on paying securely through an official HousingAnywhere in-app invoice, the landlord went completely silent and abandoned the booking.

I had to cancel to protect my funds, but standard customer support sent a generic response denying my refund, claiming no breach occurred. HousingAnywhere is violating its own safety rules by trying to force me to accept a landlord who solicited off-platform payments and withheld the address.

My money is currently sitting in their escrow account. I demand that a senior Trust & Safety manager review my chat logs, examine the uploaded screenshots, freeze the payout, and issue an immediate 100% refund of my rent and Tenant Protection fee.

UPDATE Sept 3:
HousingAnywhere's public team replied below, claiming they take off-platform payment demands seriously. However, their internal support agent just emailed me contradicting this completely. She is actively defending the landlord (Booking 4332205) who demanded a direct IBAN wire transfer and withheld the address on move-in day. They are refusing my refund and trying to force me to "rebook" with the exact same scammer who threatened to lock me out. My funds are currently on hold in their escrow. I demand that a senior manager intervene, honour their public safety promise, override this support agent, and issue my 100% refund immediately.

Do not rent unless you want roommates with six or eight legs, bugs and mold everywhere, the patio light is also the bathroom light through an open window that’s taped up and covered in plastic, the neighbors are loud and screaming up until 3am, you will not be able to sleep, it’s so dirty you feel like you’re sleeping in a crime scene, the basement is like a true crime video from hell, trash and mold and bugs everywhere

I am writing this based on my real experience as a landlord.

An Indian student booked my room through HousingAnywhere for 12 months, saying that they were coming to Austria to study.

After their visa was approved, their attitude changed dramatically. First they found excuses and said they did not want the room anymore. Later they wanted it again, but only for three months instead of the 12 months they had booked. They then postponed their flight for personal reasons and expected me to reduce the rent because they would arrive later.

After finally moving in, there were further excuses and disputes about paying rent. Eventually, I decided that the time and stress were simply not worth it and agreed to let the tenant leave early. I was later told that they had found extremely cheap shared accommodation elsewhere.

Meanwhile, HousingAnywhere had charged its commission based on the original 12-month booking.

And this is where I believe there is a fundamental problem with HousingAnywhere's business model.

HousingAnywhere itself publicly promotes its booking confirmation as proof of accommodation for student Schengen visa purposes. Its own Help Center also tells tenants that booking early allows them to secure an address months before moving and that this can be helpful when an address is needed to support a visa application.

A tenant can therefore obtain something potentially very valuable from the booking before ever moving into the property.

At the same time, HousingAnywhere charges landlords a substantial commission calculated on the value of a long-term booking.

Who carries the risk if that booking then falls apart?

In my experience: the landlord.

The landlord deals with the empty room, changing plans, unpaid rent, arguments, finding a replacement tenant and all the wasted time. HousingAnywhere has already charged a substantial commission based on the booking.

When I contacted HousingAnywhere for help, I did not receive what I consider meaningful practical protection. I received explanations and excuses while I was left to deal with the actual problem.

I cannot prove why this particular tenant originally made a 12-month booking, and I will not claim something I cannot prove. What I CAN state is the sequence of events I personally experienced:

12-month booking → visa approved → immediate attempt to get out of the booking → request to reduce the tenancy to three months → request to pay less because of a personally delayed flight → further rent disputes after moving in → early departure.

Those are the facts of my experience.

In my view, HousingAnywhere's model creates a serious conflict of incentives. The platform actively markets confirmed accommodation bookings as useful for visa purposes and can charge a large commission based on a long-term booking, while the landlord bears most of the consequences when the promised long-term tenancy does not actually materialise.

A platform charging landlords this much should provide meaningful protection when a booking goes wrong. That was not my experience.

After going through this, I will avoid HousingAnywhere whenever I have another reasonable option.

Landlords considering the platform should look very carefully at how the commission is calculated, what a tenant receives immediately after booking, when the landlord actually receives the money, and who really carries the financial risk when a long-term booking falls apart.

Easy to find accommodation for short of longer term stay. Not very easy to find out when and how long you need to pay the fee die the platform, which made me hesitant at first to use it. It looks safe though. You can find very useful information on the accommodation on the site.

In case of administrative Force Majeure, and since I am notifying you more than a month prior to the move-in date, a full refund is a legal obligation.
I have strictly followed all your instructions. The landlord has now officially written in our chat history that he agrees to the cancellation and a full refund, especially since the funds are still blocked on your escrow account. The "Tenant Protection" fee cannot be applied to my case either.
Your platform is hiding behind abusive clauses to retain money. Before booking, your terms explicitly stated that a full refund would be issued in case of Force Majeure with official proof. Keeping my money under these circumstances is pure theft. I have emailed your support team with the landlord's written consent. I am now waiting for your team to return my funds immediately.

What a terrible experience I had with this rental and Checkmyguest staff. The apartment was messy and dirty, with mold and dust to the point I had allergic reactions and had to leave. I am now dealing with the poor service and lack of responsiveness to cancel the contract and find a new place. I would not recommend this platform to anyone.

The experiencie was good. It's very easy to use the plataforma. Everything Works fine

Mostly negative experiences with this platform

support not available, landlords not able to do their job professionally

The experience is positive; booking was easy and clear. Will check how the rent will work in practice.