Frequently asked questions

The price of a room usually consists of two parts: the ‘bare’ rent and the service costs. The bare rent is the money you pay for the use of the amount of space you rent and the facilities in the room and other facilities in the house you use. A points system has been devised for this calculation. The more points the accommodation gets, the higher the rental price of the accommodation will be. You can use a form to calculate how many points your room is worth. In the brochure ‘Renting and letting rooms 2003-2004’ you will find the form printed as well as the table with which you can determine the maximum rent.

In the case of an all-in rent, no breakdown is made between the ‘bare’ rent and the service costs. Tenant and landlord are advised to split an all-in rent, because there are no rules that can result in a change to an all-in rent. If they do not agree on this, as a tenant I can ask the Rent Commission to indicate what the rent will be and what amount will apply as an advance payment and what amount will apply as service charges.

Usually not. Only residents of self-contained accommodation can, in principle, receive a rent allowance. And self-contained accommodation has its own entrance, bathroom, toilet and kitchen. It is also often checked whether the living space is cadastrally split. Rent allowance can only be applied for in the case of already designated housing units, assisted living or group living by elderly people.

These are costs for e.g. the supply of gas, electricity, furnishing, upholstery and services such as cleaning the porch. Services and supplies are recorded in the rental agreement. For each calendar year, the lessor must provide an overview of the service costs incurred in that year, including a settlement of advances paid.

If, for example, the energy company has another period to settle with the lessor, the lessor may include the costs of the lessee’s consumption in that overview if that period ends in that calendar year.

The tenancy agreement contains agreements between the tenant and the landlord about the total rent (‘bare’ rent and service costs) and other agreements (such as the use of facilities such as telephone, whether or not pets are allowed, etc.).

Model tenancy agreements can be obtained through the Dutch Housing Association (Nederlandse Woonbond). See the rental agreement file.

You are obliged to pay the rent on time, and to actually use the rented accommodation as living accommodation (and not as business accommodation, for example). Furthermore, you may not cause nuisance to local residents.

Minor repairs (such as, for example, replacing leather on taps or repairing locks on doors, but also keeping the rented room clean) are at the tenant’s expense. The tenant’s exact obligations are laid down in the tenancy agreement. These may not deviate from the established rules to the detriment of the tenant. In addition to agreed duties, there are often a number of points of attention for the tenant.

In the event of disagreement between the tenant and the landlord about the amount of the rent, service costs or serious maintenance complaints, you can turn to the rent assessment committee for a ruling (see rent assessment committee file).
For (almost) all procedures with the rent assessment, both tenant and landlord have to pay an advance of eur 11,=.

The rent assessment commission cannot force the landlord to repair the defects. However, the rent assessment commission may decide that the tenant will receive a rent reduction. The reduction is temporary and takes effect on the first day of the month following the month in which the tenant has requested the landlord to rectify the defect and applies until the complaints have been rectified.