Good Landlordship Act

If you have general questions about renting and letting a home or room, visit the Rent Support Center Groningen (Steunpunt Huren). The Rent Support Center can also mediate between tenants and landlords and start a Rent Tribunal procedure. You can also receive legal advice from the Rent Support Center. 

The legal information centre at Juridisch Loket also offers free support with any legal questions you may have.

You can check your rent on the National Government website. If you are paying too much rent according to the points system, you can inform the Rent Support Center Groningen (Steunpunt Huren).

If you are a housing cooperative tenant and want to report rental harassment, you should report this to the cooperative that rents the home to you. However, if you want to make a report about the level of rent prices and rent increases (Affordable Rent Act), as a housing cooperative tenant you can also report this to the municipality. These two rules will not, however, be enforced until 1 January 2025.

To prevent and combat housing discrimination, you should:

• use and disclose a clear, transparent selection procedure;
• use non-discriminatory selection criteria;
• explain to unsuccessful prospective tenants why another tenant was chosen.

Highlighted text: Brochure ‘Discrimination in the housing market’

With respect to the procedure, starting from 1 January 2024, you must:

• put it in writing
• make it public
• amend it where necessary
• ensure your employees (if applicable) are aware of it

To combat intimidation, you should:

• handle complaints correctly and with respect for the tenant
• not use any form of physical or sexual threats or intimidation
• not purposefully arrange that facilities in the home cannot be used or not used properly
• not intimidate the tenant, for instance, by threatening not to extend a temporary rental agreement or cancelling the existing rental agreement.

Do you require your tenant to pay a security deposit? Starting on 1 July 2023, this security deposit may not exceed two months’ basic rent. 

If you charge a security deposit, you must inform the tenant about:

• the amount of the security deposit;
• the period within which the tenant must pay back this sum;
• how the tenant must pay back this sum.

You are obliged to make clear agreements with your tenant and to record these in a rental agreement.

Written information for the tenant

You are required to notify the tenant in writing about the following:

• The tenant’s rights and obligations. These flow from the Good Landlordship Regulations.
• Who the tenant can contact if they have questions about the property.
• If you charge a security deposit you should specify the level of the security deposit, the period within which the tenant must pay back this sum and how the tenant must pay back this sum.
• If you require the tenant to pay service fees you should specify the level of service fees and provide the tenant with an annual and complete cost overview.
• The contact details for the municipal reporting hotline.
• An overview of the number of WWS(O) points. This concerns the ‘points-based system’ to assess homes and rooms and determines the rent prices for rental agreements entered into after 1 July 2024. 

The act describes which costs are part of the basic rent and which costs you can charge as service fees. There are also facilities and their associated costs that are not covered by this.

Basic rent

• The basic rent is the amount that the tenant pays each month to rent the home, together with the cost of facilities that cannot be separated from the rented property (the ‘immovable appurtenances’).
• Some living concepts have communal areas to which tenants have exclusive access, such as a study or hobby area. These areas are included in the basic rent. This also includes such things as the collective central heating system, stairways and communal garden.

Service fees

• Service fees are costs for delivered items or services that are in addition to the basic rent and are linked to living. The tenant pays a monthly fee for this. You should provide an overview each year of the calculated service fees and a breakdown of these and should do this before 1 July.
• This concerns actual and reasonable costs incurred, which you may not make a profit on. Examples include: the caretaker’s work, cleaning and minor repairs and the use of furniture, gas, water and lighting if the tenant does not have their own meter.

Other costs

• If you pay municipal taxes (the user part of the sewerage charge and waste collection), you can send a separate invoice to the tenant for this. These costs may not be calculated via the basic rent or service fees.
• For additional items and services (such as fitness equipment, healthcare and meal services) you can sign a separate contract with your tenant.

The Act states that landlords and letting agents may not charge double letting agent fees.

• Social and middle-rent homes up to 186 points (based on the WWS point system) are subject to a maximum rent. It is not permitted to request a higher rent price for these homes.
• Homes with over 186 points (based on the WWS points system) fall in the private sector. No maximum rent price applies here.
• If you rented out a social housing unit (up to 143 points according to the WWS points system) before 1 July 2024, the rent price must be adjusted before 1 July 2025 if it is still too high.
• Rented rooms are also subject to a maximum rent based on the WWSO points system.

From 1 July 2024, rent prices may not be increased above the maximum percentage for rental homes. You can read more about this on the National Government website.

If you lease accommodation to a migrant worker (from a country within the European Union), the following additional rules apply:

• You must establish the rental agreement separately from the employment contract.
• You must provide the information about the tenant’s general rights and obligations in a language that the migrant worker understands or for which they have indicated a preference.

A migrant worker is an employee from abroad who is living in the Netherlands temporarily for work purposes.

• That the tenant may only use the property in the manner agreed with you.
• That you may only enter the property with the tenant’s permission, although there are some exceptions to this rule, such as in the event of an emergency.
• The various types of rental agreement with the corresponding tenant and rent protection. You can also pass these links on to the tenant.
• What the tenant can do about defects in the property. You can refer to the overview on the central government website about apportioning costs in the event of defects. You can also consult the Rent Tribunal’s Defect Guide Book (1 July 2024). It contains information on how the Rent Tribunal generally assesses possible defects in rental accommodation.
• An overview of the situations for which the tenant can approach the Rent Tribunal or the subdistrict court. You can refer to the overview on the central government website. This explains the circumstances under which you can go to the Rent Tribunal and the Subdistrict Court.