Rent price check: points, thresholds and your next steps

Two different questions: income and rent price

When you rent a home, two separate things get assessed, and each has its own rules. The first question is personal: can you carry this rent on your own income and fixed costs? That is a question you and your landlord work out together before you sign anything. The second question is regulated by law: does the asking rent price match the quality of the home under the housing valuation system, and if not, what is the maximum? That second question can also be put to the Rent Commission later on.

The difference lies in the status of the two questions. Whether you can afford the rent is your own assessment and does not appear in a tenancy agreement or a permit; when signing, a landlord may only check what the law requires. Whether the rent price matches the quality of the home is governed by law. The Rent Commission can, at a tenant's request, make a binding ruling on that by valuing the home in points.

Since 1 July 2024 the Affordable Rents Act has applied. It extended protection to mid-market rentals and anchored rent price regulation in the housing valuation system, instead of points being merely a helpful tool. The Dutch government explains that from 1 January 2025 landlords must attach a point score to every new tenancy, and that from that date municipalities must also act when a landlord asks an unreasonable rent, even without a local rental permit.

• Whether you can carry the rent is your own assessment, made before you sign.
• Whether the rent price matches the quality of the home is a legal question under the points system.
• The Rent Commission can rule on that price, and that can also happen later than at signing.
• The Affordable Rents Act has applied since 1 July 2024.
• From 1 January 2025 a point score must be supplied with every new tenancy.

Segments, points and the annual thresholds

The thresholds are adjusted every year, because the maximum permitted rents are re-indexed on 1 January. For 2026 the Dutch government states an upper limit of EUR 932.93 for the social sector and EUR 1,228.07 as the upper limit of the middle segment, which is also the liberalisation threshold for self-contained homes.

For a tenancy that starts on or after 1 January 2026, the classification is as follows. Social rent: the bare rent on the start date is no higher than EUR 932.93. Middle rent: the contract was signed on or after 1 July 2024 and the bare rent at the start is between EUR 932.93 and EUR 1,228.07, or the bare rent at the start is higher than EUR 1,228.07 but the home scores 144 to 186 points under the residential valuation system. Free sector: the bare rent at the start is higher than EUR 1,228.07 and the home scores 187 points or more.

Note the difference between a new and an existing contract. A new tenancy is one signed on or after 1 July 2024; an existing tenancy was signed before that date. The middle rent rules only apply to new contracts. For a home of the same quality with a contract from before 1 July 2024 the outcome differs. If the contract was liberalised longer ago, it remains a free sector contract, even at 144 points or more. If the home belonged to the social sector from the outset, it remains regulated. Only an already liberalised contract for a home of low quality, 143 points or fewer, fell under the transitional arrangement.

A transitional arrangement also applied to existing contracts. It ran from 1 July 2024 up to and including 1 July 2025 and has now ended. Tenants with an existing contract for a home of up to 143 points whose rent fell in the free sector became entitled to a maximum rent, with the landlord given one year to reduce the rent to the correct amount based on the quality of the home. If the landlord did not do so, a tenant could ask the Rent Commission to assess the rent from 1 July 2025. For an existing contract with a home of more than 143 points whose rent fell in the free sector, there was no entitlement to a maximum rent.

• For 2026 the upper limit is EUR 932.93 for the social sector and EUR 1,228.07 for the middle segment.
• For a contract starting on or after 1 January 2026 you are in the middle segment when the starting rent is between EUR 932.93 and EUR 1,228.07, or when the rent is higher but the home scores 144 to 186 points.
• The free sector applies when the starting rent is above EUR 1,228.07 and the home scores 187 points or more.
• The thresholds are set per year; check the year your tenancy started.
• The middle rent rules only apply to contracts signed on or after 1 July 2024.
• Transitional arrangement: it ran from 1 July 2024 up to and including 1 July 2025. The landlord was to reduce the rent for an existing contract of up to 143 points; if not, the tenant could have it assessed from 1 July 2025.

Having the initial rent price assessed within six months

In the first six months of a new tenancy in the private sector you can ask the Rent Commission to assess the initial rent price. The Rent Commission only reduces the rent price if the maximum rent price for the home is below the boundary of the segment your contract falls into: for a contract dated 1 July 2024 or later that is the mid-market boundary of 186 points, and for an older contract the social housing boundary of 143 points. If the maximum rent price for your home is higher, the Rent Commission considers the agreed price reasonable and does not reduce it. A reduction applies retroactively from the start of the contract and is binding on both you and the landlord. This is the most important deadline on this subject and it is easily confused with a general deadline for rent reduction.

That is not a discount and not a fixed rule that your rent can automatically go down within six months. It is a window in which you can have the price you agreed at signing assessed once more. What the Rent Commission does is look at the points system and the maximum rent price that goes with those points. The Rent Commission makes that point score itself; you do not have to fill in the rent price check.

Six months is not a general cut-off for temporary contracts. For a temporary tenancy of up to two years signed on or after 1 July 2024, the deadline is six months from the start date of that contract, so it runs on while the contract itself is still going. Since 1 July 2024 a temporary contract can only be concluded for a limited group, such as students, tenants temporarily living elsewhere because of urgent works or renovation, and certain urgent cases. If you are unsure whether your contract counts, ask the Rent Commission rather than deciding it yourself.

Alongside that deadline there is a second route most tenants can use, either immediately or later: having the rent price checked against the quality of the home in points. You do that with the rent price check. Until the Rent Commission has made a ruling, you must keep paying the agreed rent.

• In the first six months of a new contract you can have the initial rent price assessed.
• If it is too high and your home falls below the point boundary for its segment, the Rent Commission reduces the price retroactively from the start of the contract. If the maximum rent price is above that boundary, the agreed price stands.
• It is a deadline for assessing the initial rent price, not a general deadline for rent reduction.
• For a temporary contract of up to two years signed on or after 1 July 2024 the deadline is six months from that contract's start date; an older temporary contract can have a different deadline, so check that with the Rent Commission.
• The Rent Commission makes the point score itself for the assessment.
• Without a Rent Commission ruling you keep paying the agreed rent.

The role of the landlord and the municipality

Since 1 January 2025 a landlord must attach a point score for the home to every new tenancy agreement, based on the new housing valuation system. You make that score with the Rent Price Check, and the result can be downloaded as a PDF to attach to the agreement. For an agreement signed on or after 1 July 2024 the landlord can arrange this; from 1 January 2025 it is compulsory. It is therefore a control in your hands: you can see whether the price you pay belongs to the segment the landlord stated.

To show that the rent is reasonable, the landlord must therefore hand over the point score. For a mid-market home two conditions apply: the agreement is new and signed on or after 1 July 2024, and the home has a quality of 144 to 186 points under the housing valuation system. If the point score is missing from the agreement, ask the landlord for it and put that in writing.

The municipality supervises compliance with the rules on rent and service costs. If a landlord asks too high a rent, you as tenant can report it to the municipal reporting point for unwanted rental practices, which must exist in every municipality since 1 January 2024. Municipalities can issue a warning, impose an order under penalty, or levy a fine. According to the Volkshuisvesting Nederland, that fine for breaching the Affordable Rents Act can reach 100,000 euros from 1 January 2025. Note the language of the rules: that fine is directed at the landlord, and the Dutch government notes that with an administrative fine or management takeover the data of the offender is made public.

Keep that distinction in mind: the municipality regulates the landlord's conduct and can enforce, but a municipality cannot itself determine the rent price or the service costs. The Rent Commission issues a ruling on the rent price or service costs at the request of a tenant or landlord, and that ruling is binding, but the Rent Commission itself does not supervise or enforce. If you want the price to come down, the Rent Commission is the route; if you want action on the way you were treated, that is the municipality.

• From 1 January 2025 the landlord attaches a point score to every new tenancy, made with the Rent Price Check.
• If it is missing, ask the landlord for it in writing.
• Report an excessive rent at your municipality's reporting point for unwanted rental practices.
• A municipality can warn, impose an order under penalty, or levy a fine.
• According to the Volkshuisvesting Nederland, that fine for breaching the Affordable Rents Act can reach 100,000 euros from 1 January 2025.
• A municipality cannot determine the amount of the rent or service costs; the Rent Commission does, with a binding ruling.

Practical steps if you think the rent is too high

Start with the Rent Price Check. Fill in the features of your home and see what point score and what maximum rent price follow. That takes about fifteen minutes and gives you a concrete number to work with. With that number you can put the question to your landlord or to the Rent Commission instead of it staying a matter of opinion.

Then work out which phase you are in and which deadline applies to you. If you are not renting yet, the questions are whether the rent price belongs with the contract and whether the point score was supplied. If you have been renting longer than six months, the deadline for the initial rent price has in principle passed; for a temporary contract of up to two years that deadline can still run until six months after the start date of that contract. If you are unsure, ask the Rent Commission rather than deciding it yourself. Note the date your tenancy started in every case, because that date determines which route is still open to you.

Gather your documents before making contact: your tenancy agreement, the point score if it is attached, your rent invoice and any Rent Price Check result. A story with a point score attached is better substantiated than one without. And during a running dispute keep paying the rent that is not in question; only the amount the dispute is about is, in principle, up for argument.

Also listen to how your landlord involves you in this process. A rent increase or a service cost line is initiated by the landlord, but the rules around it apply to you as a tenant in the whole occupancy of the building. Whoever takes the initiative determines how quickly a statement or an assessment proceeds. So put each question in an email or letter rather than only in a phone call, so you have something to build on.

• Do the Rent Price Check first and note the point score and the maximum rent price.
• Work out which deadline applies to you: the initial rent price for a new contract, or the points route for an existing one.
• Note the date your rent started, because it decides which deadline is still running.
• Collect the agreement, point score, rent invoice and any Rent Price Check result before making contact.
• During a dispute keep paying the rent that is not in question.
• Put questions in email or letter so you have something on record.