Huurtoeslag, the Dutch housing benefit: who qualifies in 2026

What changed on 1 January 2026

There is no longer a maximum rent to be eligible. Until 2025 a home renting for more than 900.07 euros (477.20 euros for young people) disqualified you outright. Since 1 January 2026 a higher rent no longer closes the door, provided you meet the other conditions.

The benefit is still calculated on a capped rent: 932.93 euros a month in 2026, or 498.20 euros when everyone in the household is under 21. The part of your rent above the cap simply earns nothing. Below the cap, the calculation uses the rent you actually pay.

The age threshold for young people dropped from 23 to 21. Tenants of 21 and 22 are now assessed on the full cap. Under 18, there is no entitlement except in specific situations. The tax office looks at the oldest resident: a 20-year-old living with a 25-year-old is assessed on the higher cap.

Service charges no longer count. Until 2025 up to four types of service charges, capped at 12 euros each, were added to the rent used for the calculation. From 2026 only the bare rent (kale huur) counts.

The conditions, one by one

You are 18 or over. You rent a self-contained home and have a rental contract. You live in the Netherlands and you — and everyone living with you — are registered with the municipality at that address.

Your income and your assets, together with those of your partner and of any co-residents, are below the limits. Neither your partner nor a co-resident owns the home.

You pay the rent and can prove it with bank statements. And you, your partner and every co-resident aged 18 or over either hold Dutch nationality or are legally resident in the Netherlands.

Residence permit, BSN and registration: the newcomer's order

EU and EEA nationals qualify on the basis of their registered right of residence. Other nationalities need a valid residence permit. In both cases the municipality passes your status to the tax office when you register, so the town hall comes first, not the tax office.

Registration gives you a BSN; DigiD comes after the BSN; the benefit can only be requested once your address appears in Mijn toeslagen, which takes one to five working days after the municipality has processed your move.

The benefit starts on the first day of a month. If you are not yet registered on the first, it starts the following month — one more reason to book the municipal appointment the day you have a contract.

Assets and income: the 2026 figures

Assets are checked on 1 January 2026: at most 38,479 euros per resident, and 76,958 euros for partners together. Co-residents are held to the same 38,479 euros. Savings held abroad are assets too.

Being over the limit on 1 January costs the whole year: the benefit is refused even if your assets fall below the limit later, and you can only qualify again the following year.

There is no single income ceiling. How much you may earn depends on your rent, your age and who lives with you; the lower the income, the higher the benefit, and a part of the rent — around 200 euros — always stays yours. The tax office publishes a trial calculation (proefberekening) that answers your own case in minutes.

Self-contained home: rooms, studios and flat-shares

A self-contained home (zelfstandige woonruimte) has its own front door that locks from both sides, its own kitchen with a sink, water supply and cooker connection, its own flushing toilet and — since 1 March 2024 — its own shower or bath. Share the kitchen, toilet or shower with other tenants and the home is not self-contained.

A room in a student house or a flat-share with a shared kitchen therefore does not qualify. The one exception is a room in an older student complex designated for the benefit before 1 July 1997; the landlord knows whether that applies.

Renting a whole self-contained flat with friends is different: one application, made by the person named on the contract, covers the home. The others are co-residents, and their income and assets are counted. Anyone registered at the address counts from the first of the month after their registration; a sub-tenant (onderhuurder) does not count.

Houseboats never qualify. Holiday homes usually do not, unless the municipality allows permanent residence there.

How and when to apply

The benefit is never paid automatically. You request it in Mijn toeslagen with DigiD, with your bare rent from the contract and your annual income (and your partner's). A letter with the decision usually follows within five weeks.

You can claim a year's benefit until 31 December of the following year: huurtoeslag for 2026 can be requested until 31 December 2027. Applying late means waiting for the final calculation of that year before anything is paid.

Any change — income, a new co-resident, a move — must be reported within four weeks. An unreported change turns into a repayment.

What it means for your search

In the large cities most free-sector rents are above 932.93 euros, so the benefit only covers the part of the rent up to the cap. It rarely makes an expensive home affordable; it makes a modest home cheaper.

Run the trial calculation before signing, not after. A studio just under the cap, self-contained, with a modest income, can be worth more each month than a room that looks cheaper on the advert.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Kan ik huurtoeslag krijgen? Dienst Toeslagen
• Huurtoeslag verandert vanaf 2026, Dienst Toeslagen
• Hoeveel vermogen mag ik hebben om huurtoeslag te krijgen? Dienst Toeslagen
• Voor welke woonruimte kan ik huurtoeslag krijgen? Dienst Toeslagen
• Wie telt als medebewoner voor de huurtoeslag? Dienst Toeslagen
• Tot wanneer kan ik toeslag aanvragen? Dienst Toeslagen

General information, checked against the sources listed. It does not replace advice from the competent office.