Utrecht tenants overpaid landlords by over €500,000 last year

Tenants in Utrecht paid over 500,000 euros too much to landlords in 2024, a calculation from the Huurteam Utrecht has shown. The organization conducted 323 price assessments, with 70 percent of these showing an error regarding payment fees.

The Huurteam works on assignments from the municipality of Utrecht. It is involved with cases in which the rent prices or service costs are too high, unjustified costs, and lease terminations. The team advises the victims of these issues on seven possible procedures they can initiate.

Only 41 percent of the tenants decided to authorize the Huurteam to with the Rent tribunal regarding the issues in 2024. This led to a rental price decrease of 557,818 euros.

The team did fewer price assessments last year than the 457 in 2023, a trend that can also be seen in other countries. “We think that many tenants are afraid to report the abuses out of fear of becoming homeless,” according to the alderman for housing, Dennis de Vries.

De Vries added that reporting these issues is a necessity to “really stand up to these fraudulent landlords.”

The “recovered” costs are significantly higher than in 2023, because deferred maintenance is now being included in more procedures. But the repayments and lower rental prices do not always result in improvements to homes. Some landlords choose “the few dozen euros less per month” and do no maintenance work, the Huurteam has noticed.

De Vries fears that these figures are just “the tip of the iceberg.” The alderman thinks that this underlines the fact that private landlords in Utrecht are “maintaining their homes poorly while asking for the highest possible price,” he added that he thinks this practice is “reprehensible.”