Tenants’ association wants stricter rules to stop landlords from dodging points system

The Woonbond, a tenants' association, is calling on the Cabinet to tighten legislation around rental prices to prevent landlords from circumventing the rules. The association is responding to a report by NOS, which revealed that landlords across the Netherlands are circumventing the points system for renting out rooms to charge higher rents.

They do this by renting entire houses to groups under a single contract, thereby bypassing the rules that apply to renting individual rooms. They use a group contract or “friends contract” to make it seem like they are renting out the entire house. Rental teams are increasingly getting reports for this practice, especially in Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

"Right now, it's possible to rent small apartments for 1,500 euros, which is completely unrelated to the quality of the accommodation provided. But the current regulations allow this," said Marcel Trip, a policy officer at the Woonbond, commenting on the report.

The Netherlands has a points system in place to determine the maximum allowable rent. However, rents are not regulated above a certain threshold. For complete homes, that threshold is 808 euros per month. According to the Woonbond, that limit is easily reached, which means a landlord can then charge whatever they wish under group contracts.

The Woonbond is urging the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, to quickly approve the Affordable Rent Act proposed by Housing Minister Hugo de Jonge. He aims to regulate the rents of more expensive properties with this new legislation.