The vrije sector, and why it is the door open to you

The vrije sector is the part of the rental market with no maximum rent: homes scoring 187 points or more. It is where a newcomer actually finds a home, because social housing runs on waiting times measured in years. 81.0 % of the homes we classify as apartment, house or studio are ADVERTISED above the 1.228,07 euro threshold — an asking price, which may include service charges, across twelve cities led by Amsterdam. You keep most tenant protections in this sector; the rent cap is the one you lose.

Figures measured on 2026-09-09

What the vrije sector is

The Dutch rental market runs in two halves. On one side, regulated housing, where a points system fixes a maximum rent. On the other, the vrije sector — the free or liberalised sector — where there is no legal maximum and the landlord sets the price. Since 1 July 2024 the line between them is drawn at 187 points: at or above that score, and on a contract signed since that date, a home is in the free sector.

Of the homes we classify as apartment, house or studio, 81.0 % are advertised above 1.228,07 euros a month, the 2026 threshold. Read that figure for what it is: an asking price, which may or may not include service charges while the legal threshold applies to the bare rent, measured across the twelve cities we cover and weighted towards Amsterdam. It says how the offer is priced — not how each home is classified, which only its points decide.

The word appears on almost every listing aimed at internationals, usually as a selling point. It is worth knowing what it actually means before reading it as a promise.

Why the other door is closed to you

Social housing is not allocated on application but through a regional platform where you build up points. In the Amsterdam region, since January 2023, those points come from two things: how long you have been registered, and how actively you respond to listings. Registering and waiting is not a strategy there — the search points only accumulate if you apply.

The numbers explain the rest. In Amsterdam the average time on the register before being housed was 9.9 years in 2025, slightly up after several years of decline. And that figure measures the registration time of people who did get a home, not how long an active search takes, which is shorter. Either way, it is not a timescale for someone who needs an address in October.

Nor are the conditions trivial. You must be registered with a municipality, which requires an address; you need a BSN; and you need either EU, EEA or Swiss nationality, or a valid residence permit. Around half of Dutch municipalities also require a housing permit — a huisvestingsvergunning — with local ties such as work or study. Income ceilings apply as well: 51,537 euros a year for one person, 56,910 for two or more in 2026.

So the arithmetic is simple. If you are arriving this year, the vrije sector is not one option among two. It is the option, and the sooner you treat it as such, the less time you lose.

It shrank in 2024, and the word no longer means what it did

Before July 2024, a landlord could in practice place a fairly ordinary home in the free sector by asking a high enough rent. The Wet betaalbare huur ended that: homes scoring 144 to 186 points became mid-market regulated housing, with a maximum rent, for every contract signed from that date on. The free sector kept only what scores 187 points or more.

The practical consequence for you is direct. A listing described as vrije sector may be nothing of the sort — the label follows the asking price, the law follows the points. If your home turns out to score 186 or fewer, it has a legal maximum rent whatever the advertisement said.

That is worth ten minutes of your time before you sign, and it is the subject of its own guide.

What you keep in the free sector

Most protections, and the rent cap is the notable exception. The deposit is limited to two months of bare rent by law. A letting agency working for the landlord may not charge you a fee for the same property. Since 1 January 2025 the landlord must hand you the points calculation with every new contract, in every segment, free sector included.

Annual increases are capped here too: 4.4 % from 1 January 2026 in the free sector — a ceiling set at average collectively agreed wage growth plus one point. It is a temporary law, extended to 1 May 2029 and due for review in 2027, so treat it as protection you have now rather than a permanent feature.

Service charges can be reviewed by the Huurcommissie if your contract was signed on or after 1 July 2024; for an older free-sector lease that route is open only in certain cases. Maintenance defects are different, and the difference matters: in the free sector the Huurcommissie can only issue an opinion, and only if both you and your landlord agree in writing to ask for it. Against damp or a leak, your real route is the subdistrict court, the kantonrechter.

Protection against termination is not a regulated-sector privilege either. A landlord cannot end an open-ended tenancy at will: they need a ground the law recognises, such as urgent own use or persistent bad tenancy. And if you do not agree to the notice, the tenancy continues — the landlord has to go to court, and you may stay until the judge rules. A termination letter is not, by itself, a date to move out on.

One more thing that changed in your favour: since 1 January 2026 a high rent no longer shuts you out of housing benefit. A tenant on a modest income can now receive huurtoeslag in the free sector; the benefit itself is still calculated on the first 932,93 euros of rent. What disappeared is the ceiling that denied you the right, not the one that caps the calculation.

What you do not get

No maximum rent. Above 186 points the price is what the market bears, and in the cities that market is tight. This is the whole difference, and it is a large one.

No income ceiling either — but the opposite: landlords set their own income requirement, commonly three to four times the monthly bare rent in gross terms, and they enforce it. That requirement, not the rent itself, is what excludes most applicants.

Be careful with temporary contracts. Since 1 July 2024 an open-ended contract is the norm, and a fixed-term one is lawful only for the specific groups a government decree lists — students coming from abroad among them — for two years at most. Outside those cases a contract presented as temporary counts as open-ended, with full protection against termination. If you were handed a temporary contract, it is worth checking which case you are in before you leave on the date written on it.

Finally, plainly: this page explains how the market is organised. It does not tell you what your own home is worth or which rules your own contract falls under — only the points of your home and the date of your contract decide that.

Frequently asked questions

What does vrije sector mean on a listing?

That the landlord considers the home free of the legal rent cap. Since July 2024 that is only true above 186 points on the official scoring system, for contracts signed from that date. The label reflects the asking price; the law follows the points.

Can I apply for social housing as a foreigner?

Yes. You need a BSN, registration with a municipality, and either EU, EEA or Swiss nationality or a valid residence permit — what is checked is your right to reside, and nationality is only one of the ways to hold it. But allocation runs on points built from registration time and active applications, the average registration time before being housed in Amsterdam was 9.9 years in 2025, and income ceilings of 51,537 euros for one person or 56,910 for two or more apply.

Is the free sector unregulated?

No. It has no maximum rent, but the deposit cap, the ban on agency fees charged to tenants, the annual increase cap of 4.4 % in 2026, the obligation to hand over the points calculation and the protection against termination all apply. Service charges can be reviewed when the contract dates from 1 July 2024 or later; maintenance defects, however, go to the subdistrict court — the kantonrechter — rather than the Huurcommissie.

Why do landlords ask for three or four times the rent?

Because nothing stops them, and because demand allows it. It is an income requirement set by the landlord, not a legal rule — but it is applied consistently, and it is the main reason applications are refused. It is normally calculated on the bare rent, without service charges.

Did the free sector really get smaller?

Yes. Homes scoring 144 to 186 points moved into the regulated mid-market segment for contracts signed from 1 July 2024. The boundary of the free sector moved up to 187 points.

I was given a temporary contract. Is that normal?

Not by default. Since 1 July 2024 open-ended contracts are the norm and fixed-term ones are lawful only for the groups listed in a government decree, including students coming from abroad, for two years at most. Outside those cases the contract counts as open-ended and you keep full protection against termination.

Sources

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