Renting a Home in Assen

Assen originated around a monastery. In 1257, Cistercian nuns settled on the site where the Drents Museum now stands. The monastery attracted trade, trade attracted residents, and around De Brink, a settlement grew which officially became a city in 1809. This is a late urbanization by Dutch standards. Assen was long a village that happened to be the capital of Drenthe. That duality is still tangible: a city with urban amenities in an environment that feels like the countryside.

The municipality has about 70,800 inhabitants (2025) and is growing. Kloosterveen, the newest district, will be expanded with hundreds to two thousand homes in the coming years. The Havenkwartier, a former industrial area on the edge of the city center, is being transformed into a residential and work area. Those considering renting a home in Assen will find themselves in a city that is affordable by Dutch standards, is seventeen minutes by train from Groningen, and offers space that can no longer be found in the Randstad. The apartments page for Assen covers the offerings in the city center and the apartment districts. This page focuses on the districts with gardens.

De Brink and the City Center: The Historic Core

De Brink is the square where Assen began. Around the former monastery grounds are the Drents Museum, the Ontvangerskamer, the governor's house, and the Jozefkerk. It is the part of Assen steeped in history, with buildings dating back to the eighteenth century. Brinkstraat and Gedempte Singel form the shopping streets that crisscross the center. Koopmansplein, slightly further north, has a cinema and larger shops.

Living in the center means living in apartments and upper floors, not in single-family homes. The density of buildings is too high for houses with gardens. But the center is relevant as a reference point: everything in Assen is measured in bicycle minutes to De Brink. And the station, a five-minute walk from the center, connects the city with Groningen and Zwolle.

Modern corner house with roof terrace in Kloosterveste

€1,400 / month

Noorderpoort 3, Assen

4

House

House for 5 students in the center of Assen

€1,975 / month

Kerkstraat, Assen

5

110 m²

Immediately

House

Short-stay with a view in Rolde

€1,195 / month

Asserstraat 63, Assen

Immediately

House

Kloosterveen: The District Still Growing

On the west side of the city, beyond the A28, lies Kloosterveen. The district started in 1997 and now has over 4,200 homes, spread across fifteen neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has its own housing style, from terraced houses to semi-detached and detached homes. The variation is deliberate: Kloosterveen is not a monotonous Vinex-wijk but a collection of neighborhoods with their own character.

What is special about Kloosterveen is that the district is not yet finished. The Kloosterveen Groeit program provides for five hundred to two thousand new homes in the coming years. This makes it one of the few places in Assen where new build rental homes are coming onto the market. The district has its own schools, a shopping center, and sports facilities. The distance to the center is five kilometers, a fifteen-minute bike ride. For families looking for new build with a garden, Kloosterveen is the largest and most current search area.

Pittelo and Peelo: The Seventies Edge

North of the city center are Pittelo and Peelo, the expansion districts from the 1970s and 1980s. Pittelo, built between 1970 and 1975, is a low-rise neighborhood with spacious plots and lots of greenery. The streets are wide, the gardens deep, the planting mature. It is a neighborhood built at a time when space was not a luxury but a standard.

Peelo, slightly further north, dates from the same period but is somewhat more compact. Together they form the northern belt of the city, within cycling distance of the center and the Asserbos. The homes are not new, the insulation varies, but the layouts are spacious and the rental prices are lower than in Kloosterveen. For renters seeking square meters and greenery without a new construction premium, Pittelo and Peelo are the alternative.

Marsdijk: Family District on the Forest Edge

Marsdijk is located on the southeast side of the city, on the border of the urban area and the Drenthe landscape. The district was built in the 1980s and 1990s, a generation after Pittelo and Peelo. The homes are slightly more modern, the insulation better, the layout more systematic. Single-family homes with gardens, separate bike paths, playgrounds in the neighborhoods.

The Asserbos begins where Marsdijk ends. A hundred hectares of forest, one of the oldest in the Netherlands, within walking distance of your backyard. The Baggelhuizenplas, a 125-hectare recreational lake with a beach and swimming water, is located on the west side of the city. Assen compensates for the distance to the sea with its own water and forest. Marsdijk benefits most from this: nature literally begins at the edge of the neighborhood.

The Havenkwartier: From Industry to Residential Area

On the southern edge of the city center, along the Havenkanaal, lies the Havenkwartier. A former industrial area that will be transformed into a mixed residential, work, and recreational area in the coming years. It is part of the FlorijnAs program, the major area development that aims to connect Assen from the station to nature.

The Havenkwartier will provide hundreds of new homes, from apartments to single-family homes, in a waterfront setting. The first plans are under development. For renters, the Havenkwartier is a location to keep an eye on: it will offer new supply in a location close to the city center and the station. The combination of water, workspace, and living makes it different from existing residential areas.

Renting a home in Assen is calmer than in the Randstad, but single-family homes in Kloosterveen and Marsdijk are sought after and go quickly. Make sure income proof and identification are ready, set up a search alert for new offerings, and also look in Pittelo and Peelo. These districts are older but offer more space for less money, and the center is just as close.