There are lots of things to think about when you rent accommodation. This consists of making sure you are not paying too much in terms of lease, a deposit or service costs. The Landlords (Good Practices) Act entered into force on 1 July 2023. This act introduced new rules and updated some old rules. It is very important to understand your rights and obligations. So follow this detailed strategy when you rent accommodation.

Step 1: check just how much the rent, deposit, service costs and mediation fees are

Rent

Check whether the lodging you wish to lease is classified as social housing or if it is private-sector rental. This is an important difference, due to the fact that various rights and obligations apply to each type. If you are going to be renting accommodation in 2024 and the standard lease is EUR879.66 or less, the lodging is thought about to be social housing. Social housing has a rent ceiling, which is computed utilizing a points system. If you lease accommodation in 2024 and the basic rent is above EUR879.66, the lodging is thought about to be a private-sector rental. There is no lease ceiling for private-sector lodging.

Check whether the lease matches the quality of the accommodation by running the Rent Check.

Rent Check self-contained lodgings
Rent Check shared accommodations

If you are paying excessive, ask your property manager to decrease the rent. If you can't reach a contract with your property manager, contact the lease tribunal (Huurcommissie).

Please note: if you are residing in a private-sector rental, ask the rent tribunal to assess your starting rent within six months of your first payment. If you reside in social housing, you can ask the rent tribunal to check the lease you are paying at any time.

In some municipalities, proprietors need a rental permit to be able to rent out accommodation. Conditions might be connected to the license, such as how much the lease can be. If this is the case, you can likewise ask the municipality to evaluate your lease.

Deposit

For tenancy agreements dated 1 July 2023 onwards, the maximum deposit a proprietor can charge is two months' basic lease. When the tenancy arrangement has actually ended, you will in principle get your deposit back within 2 week. But if you still owe your proprietor cash, they can deduct this from your deposit. Because case they should repay the staying deposit within thirty days.

Your proprietor can just keep your deposit to cover the following:

- overdue rent;
- service expenses;
- damage to the lodging that the renter should cover;
- energy effectiveness charge (in Dutch: energieprestatievergoeding, EPV).

Service costs

Your landlord can just charge you actual service expenses that have been sustained. They can not charge more and keep the difference.

Service expenses include:

- cleaning up expenses;
- costs of lighting common locations;
- jobs performed by a caretaker.

Gas, water and electrical energy do not fall under service expenses. You pay these costs separately.

You pay service costs monthly, on top of the fundamental rent. Each year your landlord will provide you with a summary of the service expenses credited you. This will reveal you:

- which costs your property owner has incurred;
- just how much of these expenses you have actually paid;
- whether you have actually paid excessive or too little;
- whether you will get cash back or require to pay more.

If you have actually not received a summary of service expenses, or if the overview is incorrect, get in touch with the rent tribunal or your municipality.

Mediation fees might only be credited one celebration

If your property manager utilizes a rental company, your property owner pays the mediation fees. The agency can not ask you to pay mediation fees too. Mediation fees are sometimes called administration, contract or company fees. If you yourself use an agency or intermediary to discover accommodation, you will need to pay their charges yourself.

Step 2: inspect your occupancy arrangement and the details provided by your property owner

Tenancy contracts dated 1 July 2023 onwards must be in writing. If you make oral arrangements with your property manager, your property manager needs to verify these agreements in composing.
Your landlord needs to likewise offer you with information in blogging about:

- how the lodging can be used;
- when your property manager can enter the accommodation (only with your consent, unless there is an emergency situation);.
- the different types of tenancy agreement and the associated occupant protection and rental rate protection;.
- what you can do if the accommodation is in need of repair work;.
- who you can contact if you have questions about your accommodation;.
- who you can call if you can't solve an issue with your landlord (local reporting workplace, rent tribunal or district court);.
- just how much you need to pay as a deposit and how it will be returned;.
- service costs (an overview of service expenses charged need to be provided every year).

If your tenancy contract began before 1 July 2023, you will receive this extra info by 30 June 2024 at the most recent.

Extra info for European labour migrants

If you have originated from a European country to momentarily work in the Netherlands, and your company offers you with accommodation, your company should provide you info about your lodging in a language you understand. This does not apply to the tenancy agreement, nevertheless. The tenancy agreement can be in Dutch.

Your tenancy contract should also be separate from your work agreement. This implies that you do not require to vacate the accommodation if your employment ends. This only uses to tenancy agreements dated 1 July 2023 or later on.

Step 3: inspect if you are entitled to housing benefit

You might be entitled to housing advantage. You can examine this on toeslagen.nl.

Step 4: do something about it if you can not resolve an issue with your landlord

If you have a problem with your proprietor and can't resolve it, there are different courses of action you can take.

Involve the lease tribunal

If you are leasing social housing, and you do not agree with the amount of rent you are paying, a lease boost or the level of maintenance, you can call the rental tribunal.

If you lease private-sector lodging, and disagree with your property manager's annual rent boost, or a rent boost following improvements to your accommodation, contact the rent tribunal. You can likewise ask the rent tribunal to examine your starting rent. You must do this within six months of the start of the occupancy.

The lease tribunal is an independent and objective disagreement conciliator. Any decisions it takes are legally binding for both tenants and property owners. If you can not take the conflict to the lease tribunal, you can take it to the district court.

Reporting an issue to the municipality

Since 1 January 2024, every town has a reporting workplace where tenants and those looking for accommodation can report problems with property owners.

If a property manager breaches one of the rules in the Landlords (Good Practices) Act, the municipality must act. Here are some examples. A proprietor remains in breach of the guidelines if they:

- do not supply you with a written occupancy agreement or written info about the occupancy;.
- charge you unjustified service expenses or deposit expenses;.
- victimize you or frighten you. Intimidation consists of threatening to end the tenancy contract or cut off your gas, water or electricity if you grumble.

If a proprietor is found to be in breach of the rules in the Landlords (Good Practices) Act (or other rules), the town can do a variety of things, including:

- issue an official caution;.
- problem a fine; or.
- in extreme cases, take over management of the accommodation.

If you have a complaint that is not associated with the Landlords (Good Practices) Act, your town can put you in touch with the right organisation.

Report discrimination

Your proprietor is not enabled to victimize you. To prevent discrimination (conscious or unconscious), proprietors need to specify in composing how they select their tenants. When marketing lodging, property owners need to consist of details on how tenants will be picked. Landlords must describe to unsuccessful candidates why they were not selected.

If you believe discrimination, contact the reporting workplace of your municipality. You can likewise get in touch with an anti-discrimination service (ADV). These services give independent suggestions to people who report discrimination or have questions about discrimination.
You can likewise call:

the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (+31 (0 )30 888 3 888/ info@mensenrechten.nl); or.
the authorities.

Brochure with extra details

Most renters are delighted with their property owner. But in some cases things do not go as expected and problems can occur. The Landlords (Good Practices) Act uses occupants protection and provides property managers clearness about what's enabled and what's not allowed. This sales brochure provides additional info about the law. The brochure is offered in Dutch, English, Bulgarian, Polish, Romanian and Spanish.