More complaints from tenants last year; Private landlords almost always in the wrong

More tenants turned to the Huurcommissie with complaints about rent increases, maintenance issues, and disputes about the point system last year. Private landlords were far more often in the wrong than housing corporations, with only 11 percent of rulings going in the private landlord’s favor, the rent assessment committee said in its annual report.

The Huurcommissie’s field of activity consists of 82 percent housing corporations and 18 percent private landlords. Despite their small proportion of the total, 53 percent of last year’s disputes involved private landlords. “In disputes, private landlords were ruled against over five times as often as housing corporations (89 versus 16 percent),” the committee said.

Last year, 3,571 tenants went to the Huurcommissie to complain about their rent increase, 4 percent more than in 2020. In 2021, the government froze rents to help tenants absorb the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

The number of disputes between tenants and landlords about defects and maintenance issues in the rental home increased by 30 percent to 3,961. And disagreements about the points system - in which the tenants and landlord don’t agree about the homes’ valuation - jumped 53 percent to 2,154. The committee also handled almost 3,000 service charge disputes, with most rulings favoring the tenant.

The Huurcommissie thinks the increased number of disputes about maintenance, the points system, and service charges is linked to the increased energy costs, high inflation, and reduced purchasing power. The rental committee ruled in favor of the tenant in about 40 percent of the cases, often leading to a rent reduction of over 100 euros per month, the committee said.