Fair rent for all

16 Nov 2009

Housing law expert, Guido Zijlstra, provides an easy
guide to the Netherlands’ housing laws and gives
advice on how to get your rent reduced.

Introduction

At one time or another, all residents of
Amsterdam - especially expats - will have been
involved in heated discussions about the
seemingly impossible task of finding reasonable
and affordable housing in the city. For some, the
solution is to buy their own apartment, but at the
housing market’s current inflated price levels,
this option is open to fewer and fewer people.
For students, short-term residents and those on
average salaries, or below, there is only the
rental market. As a member of Amsterdam City
Council’s Wijksteunpunt Wonen (District Housing
Support Group), Guido Zijlstra advises tenants
on a daily basis about their rights and
entitlements. In this issue, he provides some
invaluable guidelines to expats: the universal
‘suckers’ of the rental market.

Expats often tend to compare rental prices in
Amsterdam with those in their home countries.
They consider a monthly rent of 800 euros, or
more, for a two or three-room apartment
‘reasonable’ and are not aware that their Dutch
neighbours probably pay no more than 300
euros. This is why all the housing rental
agencies love expats so much: they are ignorant
to the local laws and some of them think that
those laws only apply to locals or to apartments
that belong to the city council.


Tenants’ rights

As a tenant in the Netherlands, you are
protected by the law in several ways. First of all,
once you agree to rent an apartment (either
verbally or through a written contract), this
agreement can only be terminated by the tenant;
not by the landlord, except in extreme
circumstances (e.g. failure to pay the rent, in
which case, the landlord must start a court case
against the tenant). A contract that states
‘temporary’ or ‘one-year lease’ does not
automatically end after the expiry date. A
temporary contract is only allowed in very rare
and specific situations. So if you think you have
a temporary contract, you most likely don’t!

The second protection a tenant has is that the
landlord cannot simply charge what he likes for
an apartment. Every apartment has a maximum
rent, which is calculated using a points system.
Every square metre and all the facilities in the
apartment score points, and the total number of
points equates to a certain maximum rent.
Anyone can ask a Huurteam (via
www.wswonen.nl) to visit their apartment and
perform the calculation at no cost.

If you pay more than the maximum rent
according to this points system, you are entitled
to have your rent reduced by the
Huurcommissie. This is like a civil court that
deals solely with housing rental cases. It is very
easy to start a re-evaluation process and the
Huurteam can also help you with this, free of
charge.

There is only one situation in which your rent
cannot be reduced and that is if you pay more
than 630 euros a month ‘kale huur’ (flat rent) and
you have paid that amount for more than six
months. In such cases, the law considers that
the protection it has offered for six months is not
required. So, always start a process within the
first six months of the contract. The exception to
this rule is all-inclusive rents, for which you can
start a process at any time.

Taking on the agencies

Many apartments that are rented out to expats
are found via rental agencies. These agencies
will try to make you pay as much as possible,
because they normally receive one month’s rent
as a fee. This is illegal. In May of this year, the
highest civil court in the country decided that
agencies must work in tenants’ interests. This
means that if you pay too much and you have
rented the apartment through an agency, you
can start a process against the agency. One
tenant who did this was awarded 15.000 euros in
compensation by the courts. She was actually
too late to lower the rent through the
Huurcommissie (having lived there for more than
six months), but she successfully sued the
agency for not informing her about this law. The
agency has to pay her the difference between
the maximum rent permitted by law and the
actual amount that she pays to the landlord, for
as long as the contract lasts.

Many expats that I have spoken to consider
using the system to get their rent reduced unfair
to the landlord with whom they have signed a
contract. This is ridiculous and they obviously do
not understand the Dutch politics behind the
legislation. Rental prices in the Netherlands are
regulated precisely because the authorities do
not want the inner city of Amsterdam and the
surrounding neighbourhoods to be turned into
yuppie zones, even more than they already have
done, and so become more like London, Paris or
New York. If the rental system had been
liberalised, as the government proposed around
two years ago, most locals would have already
left areas like the Centre, De Pijp and the Oud-
West, and the apartments would have been
rented out solely to expats, who are willing to
spend half, or more, of their income on rent. The
Netherlands’ rental laws are intended to keep
cities and their inhabitants diverse, lively,
colourful and cosmopolitan. Surely these are
exactly the reasons why most expats chose
Amsterdam as their new home in the first place!
So, consider your circumstances and, if
possible, please do get your rent reduced. It’s
your duty as a resident and it makes perfect
economical sense.


About the author
by Guido Zijlstra
info[at]guidozijlstra.nl


What tenants need to know

› There is no such thing as a temporary
contract*
› Only a tenant (not a landlord) can terminate a
contract*
› Anyone can ask a Huurteam to visit their
apartment and calculate the maximum rent, at
no cost
› Make sure you contact the Huurteam within the
first six months of your rental contract
› Try to get your rent reduced, if possible – it’s
your duty to the city
› Visit www.wswonen.nl for further information

* except in very rare and/or particular circumstances