What may your landlord ask you for, and when may they enter?

Income and identity: what may be requested

The Dutch Data Protection Authority notes that organisations may in some situations request data about your income, for example when you want to rent a home. If you rent through a rental agent, they may ask for income details such as a payslip or a bank statement showing your salary. That lets the agent assess whether you can pay the rent.

The agent may also ask for a landlord's reference. That is a statement completed by your current landlord, saying whether you paid rent on time, whether you have had any rent arrears, and whether you caused nuisance. The agent may also ask about your marital status, because your partner could be a co-tenant.

The law draws a clear limit. The rental agent may only ask you for data that is necessary to assess whether you can pay the rent. So the agent may not ask about your nationality or ethnicity. Nor may the agent ask for your citizen service number; that number may only be used where a law permits it. The agent may ask to see your identity document, because the agent is obliged to verify your identity as part of screening prospective tenants. That screening follows from the agent's duty of care: the agent must investigate and assess whether you, as a candidate tenant, can meet all the obligations from the tenancy agreement.

Renting through a housing association follows its own rules. The housing association may request and record your income details only at the moment that is genuinely necessary, for example when you are about to sign the tenancy agreement, and not earlier merely because it would be convenient. If a housing association asks for an income declaration as soon as you register, it must be able to explain properly why that is already necessary at that stage. If there is no good reason, for example because not all tenants are subject to an income requirement, the housing association may not ask about your income at the point you register.

• A rental agent may ask about your income, for example via a payslip or bank statement.
• A landlord's reference from your previous landlord may be requested.
• The agent may not ask about your nationality or ethnicity.
• The agent may not ask for your citizen service number.
• Checking your identity is permitted, because screening prospective tenants requires it.
• A housing association may only ask about your income when it is genuinely necessary, for example when signing.

Oversight of your landlord and the deposit

The law protects you against a landlord who asks too much. The deposit may be at most 2 months of basic rent. If your tenancy agreement was signed before 1 July 2023, the deposit may be at most 3 months of basic rent. A landlord asking for four months of rent is therefore asking for more than the law allows.

Besides the deposit, the Dutch government names other costs a landlord may sometimes ask for: letting costs, take-over costs for items left behind, and agency fees. For letting costs, the landlord may only charge them if you receive something in return, such as a nameplate on your door or a permit the landlord applies for on your behalf. You pay nothing for drawing up the tenancy agreement itself, because that is a fixed part of the letting process. Handing over keys has no separate rule in the Dutch government's list. If a landlord asks money for it, ask which legal basis and which item on the bill that cost is charged to.

The ACM ConsuWijzer explains when you do not have to pay agency fees as a tenant. If the agent works for both you and the landlord, they may not charge you. That also applies when the costs appear in the contract or in the agent's general terms; the name given to the cost does not matter, so it could be registration costs, administration costs, dossier costs or contract costs. If you did pay such an agent, you can request those costs back for up to 5 years.

A landlord may not ask you for key money. If they do, do not pay it. If you do pay it, make sure you have proof of payment; that lets you recover the money through the court. This is set out in the rules on extra costs that the Dutch government describes for tenants.

• The deposit is at most 2 months of basic rent; for an agreement before 1 July 2023, at most 3 months.
• Letting costs may only be charged if you receive something in return, such as a nameplate or a permit.
• You pay nothing to have the tenancy agreement drawn up.
• An agent who also works for the landlord may not charge you agency fees, whatever the costs are called.
• Undue agency fees can be reclaimed for up to 5 years.
• A landlord may not ask for key money.

Entering the home and viewings

The Good Landlordship Regulation states that during the tenancy the landlord may only enter the home or living space with the tenant's consent. The landlord may do so without consent only in an urgent emergency where immediate intervention is necessary, such as a gas leak, a fire or a burst water pipe while you are out and unreachable.

There are also situations in which you must allow the landlord access while the landlord still may not simply walk in. That applies to urgent works, to a renovation that continues under the tenancy and for which the landlord has made a reasonable proposal, to works at a neighbouring property where a duty to allow it applies, and to a viewing by a prospective buyer or prospective tenant. In all of these the landlord must first make an appointment with you, even if you are not at home. Only then do you grant access; that is the tenant's duty to allow access. You cannot simply refuse a request for access without a valid reason.

So there are two separate things at play: granting access, and arranging it in advance. In a genuine emergency there is no appointment duty, because something has to happen immediately. For a viewing or for works the appointment duty does apply, and once the appointment is made your duty to allow access follows from it. If you want to know how a viewing works in practice, agree the arrangements in advance, for example when the landlord will come and how much notice applies.

• The landlord may only enter your home with your consent.
• Only in an urgent emergency may the landlord enter without consent and without an appointment.
• For a viewing, urgent works or renovation the rule is: make an appointment first, then grant access.
• Once an appointment is made you cannot simply refuse access without a valid reason.

Reporting point for unwanted rental practices and oversight

Since 1 January 2024 every municipality must have a reporting point for unwanted rental practices. When a tenant reports the level of the rent price or service costs, municipalities can generally refer the tenant to the Rent Commission. That reporting point is therefore the first point of contact for a complaint about how you are being treated.

Landlords must comply with rules on matters including the level of the rent, rent increases, service costs and the data they may request. If a landlord does not comply, the municipality can impose sanctions, such as an administrative fine. In the worst case the municipality can take the home into management. The Dutch government notes alongside this that an administrative fine or a management takeover makes the data of the party involved public; that is the party that broke the rules, not the tenant who filed a complaint.

Municipalities can also refer tenants to the Rent Commission where the rent price is too high, even though the municipality cannot determine the rent price itself. The distinction between what a municipality can do and what the Rent Commission can do is therefore crucial. The municipality regulates conduct and can enforce, while the Rent Commission issues a binding ruling on the rent price or the service costs themselves, but does not itself supervise or enforce. Confusing the two routes risks sending a complaint to the wrong body.

• Every municipality must have a reporting point for unwanted rental practices since 1 January 2024.
• For a complaint about the level of the rent or service costs, the municipality can refer you to the Rent Commission.
• A municipality can issue a warning, levy a fine, or take the home into management.
• With an administrative fine or management takeover, the data of the party involved is made public; that concerns the offender, not the person complaining.
• The municipality cannot determine the level of the rent itself; only the Rent Commission can.