Is your rent legal? How the Dutch points system decides

Your maximum legal rent depends on the exact number of points your home scores — not on the segment it is said to belong to. Every room is capped, and so is every self-contained home up to 186 points let on a contract signed on or after 1 July 2024. You have six months from the start of the tenancy to have the initial rent reviewed with retroactive effect; a second route stays open afterwards in the regulated sector.

Figures measured on 2026-09-09

The rent is not free to set — the points decide

A Dutch home is scored on a points system, the woningwaarderingsstelsel. Surface area, energy label, kitchen and bathroom fittings, outdoor space and the official property value each add points, and the total sets a maximum legal rent.

Since the Wet betaalbare huur of 1 July 2024 the points decide the segment, not the price asked: a landlord can no longer move a home into the free market simply by charging a high rent. Two limits matter, though. The mid-market rules apply to contracts signed on or after 1 July 2024 — if your lease for a home scoring 144 to 186 points predates that day, it stays outside them for as long as it runs. Social housing rents and rooms, on the other hand, are capped whatever the date of the contract.

Of the 10,049 active listings we track, 2,724 are either rooms — always regulated — or self-contained homes whose ADVERTISED rent stays at or below 1.228,07 euros. That is 27.1 % of what we see. Two honest caveats: the advertised price may or may not include service charges, while the legal maximum applies to the bare rent; and it is the points, never the price, that decide the segment. This count says where the question is worth asking, nothing more.

Your maximum depends on your points, not on your segment

This is where most people get it wrong. The official table sets a maximum for every single point score, not one figure per segment: 637,67 euros at 100 points, 706,32 at 110, 843,62 at 130, 932,93 at 143 — the top of social housing — and 1.228,07 at 186, the top of the mid-market segment.

So a rent below 932,93 euros is not lawful merely for being below it. A home scoring 110 points may not be let for more than 706,32 euros: at 850 euros it is 144 euros a month over its limit, month after month, while sitting comfortably under the social housing threshold. Only your own score answers the question.

Annual increases are capped separately. In 2026: 4.1 % from 1 July for social housing and for rooms — but 25 euros rather than 4.1 % where the rent is under 350 euros, and up to 50 or 100 euros on top for higher incomes in social housing; 6.1 % from 1 January for mid-market homes; 4.4 % from 1 January in the free sector.

Three sharing a flat is not a self-contained home

This is the rule almost nobody tells newcomers, and it is worth money. A home is self-contained only if it meets both conditions: it has its own front door, kitchen, toilet and washing facilities, AND it is occupied by at most two people — or by three or more who form a lasting joint household.

Both halves matter. A student alone in a room with a shared kitchen is not in a self-contained home, however few people live there. And three friends or colleagues sharing a flat do not form a joint household: since 1 July 2024 that flat is scored under the points system for rooms, the WWSO, even though it has its own front door and bathroom. Many so-called friends contracts are still advertised and priced as free-sector homes.

A room is never liberalised, whatever rent is asked for it. Use the room version of the official calculator, not the one for self-contained homes — they do not give the same answer.

How to check, in an evening and for nothing

The Huurcommissie publishes the official calculator, the Huurprijscheck, in two versions: one for self-contained homes, one for rooms. You enter the surface area, the energy label and the fittings, and it returns your points and your maximum rent.

You should not have to start from scratch. Since 1 January 2025 the landlord must hand you the points calculation with every new contract, in every segment. If you did not get one, ask in writing: it is an obligation, not a courtesy.

Two figures you will need are public and free. The official property value, the WOZ-waarde, is on wozwaardeloket.nl, and the energy label is on ep-online.nl. Neither requires an account.

Two routes, two deadlines — and they are not the same

The first is the review of the initial rent, and it is the strong one: within six months of the tenancy starting, the Huurcommissie can rule that the rent exceeds what the points allow, and for a regulated home the reduction runs from the start of the tenancy. On a temporary contract signed on or after 1 July 2024 — which includes the student contracts still permitted — the six months run from the DAY YOU SIGNED, not from the end of the contract. That trap costs people their case.

The second route stays open afterwards: a rent reduction based on points. If what you pay is a social-housing rent, you can start it at any time and the date of your contract does not matter. It works in two steps, and the order is strict: first write to your landlord proposing a specific new rent, with an effective date at least two full calendar months later; then, if they refuse or stay silent, bring the case to the Huurcommissie within six weeks of that proposed date. Going straight to the Huurcommissie gets your file rejected.

This second route lowers the rent from that point on and does not recover what you have already overpaid. Which is why the first six months matter so much. And since 1 January 2025 your municipality can act against excessive rents itself and fine the landlord — a route that costs you nothing and does not put you face to face with them.

What it costs, what it gives you, and what it does not

A tenant pays 25 euros to bring a case; a landlord pays 500. If the ruling goes your way you get your 25 euros back, and part of it if it goes partly your way. Cases are filed through MijnHuurcommissie with a DigiD — which you only have once you are registered with a municipality — or by post if you do not have one yet.

In the regulated sector the ruling binds both sides. It also binds them on the initial rent of a new or temporary contract in the free sector; on other questions about a free-sector home, the Huurcommissie's opinion may be advisory only.

One thing the ruling does not do: pay you back. If it establishes that you have been overcharged, you must claim the money from your landlord yourself, and if they refuse, the Juridisch Loket is the next step — the Huurcommissie cannot help you with that part.

And a word on the risk. Bringing a case is not in itself a ground for ending a tenancy, and Dutch tenants have strong protection against termination. But that protection is not the same for everyone: it does not extend a temporary contract that is running out, and it does not exist during the trial period of a room let by a live-in landlord. Check what your own contract gives you before you decide when to act.

Finally, plainly: this page explains the system, it does not assess your home. Only the points of your actual home decide, and the Huurcommissie is the body that rules on them.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my home is regulated?

By its points, not by its rent. Run the Huurcommissie's Huurprijscheck. Any room is regulated whatever its score. A self-contained home up to 143 points is too, whenever the contract was signed; between 144 and 186 points, only if the contract dates from 1 July 2024 or later.

My rent is below the social housing ceiling. Does that make it lawful?

No, and this is the most common mistake. Each point score has its own maximum: 706,32 euros at 110 points, for instance. A rent well under 932,93 euros can still be far above what your home's points allow.

I have been renting for two years. Is it too late?

Not necessarily. The review of the initial rent is closed after six months, but if what you pay is a social-housing rent you can still ask for a reduction based on points at any time — the date of your contract does not matter there. The reduction then applies going forward only.

I signed a temporary contract. How long do I have?

If it was signed on or after 1 July 2024, six months from the day you signed — not from the end of the contract. The older rule, which ran until six months after the contract ended, applies only to contracts signed before that date.

We are three friends sharing a flat. Does this apply to us?

Yes. Three or more people who do not form a lasting joint household are scored under the room system, whose maximum is calculated room by room and is not the same as for the whole flat. Use the room version of the Huurprijscheck.

Can my landlord evict me for going to the Huurcommissie?

Bringing a case is not a ground for ending a tenancy. But it does not extend a temporary contract that is expiring, and it gives no protection during the trial period of a room let by a live-in landlord. Look at what your contract actually gives you.

Sources

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