There are lots of things to consider when you lease lodging. This includes making sure you are not paying too much in terms of lease, a deposit or service expenses. The Landlords (Good Practices) Act entered into force on 1 July 2023. This act presented new rules and upgraded some old guidelines. It is essential to understand your rights and commitments. So follow this detailed strategy when you lease lodging.

Step 1: examine how much the rent, deposit, service costs and mediation costs are

Rent

Check whether the lodging you wish to rent is classed as social housing or if it is private-sector rental. This is an important distinction, due to the fact that different rights and responsibilities apply to each type. If you are going to be leasing accommodation in 2024 and the fundamental lease is EUR879.66 or less, the accommodation is considered to be social housing. Social housing has a lease ceiling, which is determined utilizing a points system. If you rent lodging in 2024 and the basic rent is above EUR879.66, the lodging is thought about to be a private-sector rental. There is no rent ceiling for private-sector lodging.

Check whether the rent matches the quality of the lodging by running the Rent Check.

Rent Check self-contained lodgings Rent Check shared accommodations

If you are paying excessive, ask your property manager to lower the rent. If you can't reach a contract with your landlord, get in touch with the lease tribunal (Huurcommissie).

Please note: if you are residing in a private-sector leasing, ask the rent tribunal to assess your starting lease within 6 months of your very first payment. If you live in social housing, you can ask the rent tribunal to check the lease you are paying at any time.

In some municipalities, property managers require a rental authorization to be able to rent out lodging. Conditions may be connected to the authorization, such as how much the rent can be. If this is the case, you can likewise ask the town to evaluate your rent.

Deposit

For occupancy agreements dated 1 July 2023 onwards, the maximum deposit a property owner can charge is two months' basic lease. When the occupancy agreement has ended, you will in principle get your deposit back within 14 days. But if you still owe your property owner money, they can subtract this from your deposit. In that case they should repay the remaining deposit within one month.

Your property owner can only keep your deposit to cover the following:

- unpaid rent