A practical guide to renting a home in the Netherlands: contract type, deposit, maximum rent and the points system, rent increases, and ending the lease. General information, not legal advice.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. It describes an ordinary residential lease. Rules change: always check the current law and the official rent check before you sign.
Homes for rent in the Netherlands are listed on Map Syndicat by city, with their price and characteristics. This guide covers only the renting rules, not the homes themselves.
What kind of contract you get
Since 1 July 2024, under the Wet vaste huurcontracten (Fixed Rental Contracts Act), a new residential lease is for an indefinite period (onbepaalde tijd) by default. Temporary leases of at most two years survive only for designated groups, such as students, the diplomat clause, target-group contracts, rooms in the landlord's own home, Leegstandwet rentals, and short-stay lets by nature.
A contract called temporary that falls outside those exceptions counts as indefinite: its end date does not apply. Temporary contracts signed before 1 July 2024 keep the old rules: they end on the agreed date if the landlord gives written notice between one and three months before; if that window is missed, the contract becomes indefinite.
The deposit: at most two months' bare rent
The deposit (waarborgsom or borg) has a legal maximum. Keep the pieces apart when you check what you are asked to pay:
- Since 1 July 2023, under the Wet goed verhuurderschap (Good Landlordship Act, Civil Code art. 7:261b), the deposit may be at most two months' bare rent (kale huur): the rent for the home itself, without service charges. Service charges do not count toward it. For contracts signed before 1 July 2023 the maximum is three months' bare rent.
- The landlord may charge nothing besides the rent, the service charges, and the deposit.
- Return: within 14 days after you hand over the home and the keys. The landlord gets 30 days only if it deducts something, and deductions are limited to unpaid rent, service charges, an energy-performance fee, or damage that is your responsibility. Normal wear and tear is not a permitted deduction, and any deduction must be explained in writing with a breakdown of costs.
- A pure dispute about the deposit goes to the municipal reporting point (meldpunt) or the subdistrict court (kantonrechter). The Huurcommissie (Rent Tribunal) handles rent price, the points system, and service-charge settlement, not a pure deposit dispute.
Is there a maximum rent? The points system
Since 1 July 2024, under the Wet betaalbare huur (Affordable Rent Act), the housing valuation system (woningwaarderingsstelsel, WWS) is mandatory for the low and mid segments. Points are awarded for features such as floor area, energy label, and facilities, and the points decide the segment: social housing up to 143 points, mid-market from 144 to 186 points, and free sector from 187 points, where there is no maximum rent. Rooms always fall under the points system for non-independent units.
Maximum rents and segment limits are indexed every year, so no figure in any guide stays current for long. Check the current figures with the official Huurprijscheck on Rijksoverheid before you rely on any number.
Rent increases
The government sets a yearly maximum increase per segment. The percentage depends on the segment and the year, so check the current maximum on Rijksoverheid before you accept an increase. Do not trust a percentage from another year.
Ending the lease
As a tenant, you give notice to a rent-payment day. Your notice period is one payment period, at least one month and at most three months (Civil Code art. 7:271(6)a).
As a landlord, the notice period is three months plus one month for every full year you have lived there, up to six months, and only on a ground stated in the law (art. 7:274). If you do not agree, the landlord must go to the subdistrict court.
What the landlord must do
The landlord must give you the use of the property as agreed (Civil Code art. 7:203), may not discriminate or charge unjust costs, and must inform you as required by the good-landlordship rules.
Where to check
Burgerlijk Wetboek Book 7 (arts. 7:203, 7:247, 7:261b, 7:271, 7:274). Wet goed verhuurderschap (1 July 2023). Wet vaste huurcontracten and Wet betaalbare huur (1 July 2024). Rijksoverheid Huurprijscheck for the current maximum rent and increase. Huurcommissie for rent price, points, and service-charge disputes.
If anything in this guide does not match your situation, or a deadline has passed, talk to a professional before you sign.
