Is my rent too high in the Netherlands?

Is my rent too high in the Netherlands?

Your rent is too high if your home scores fewer points under the Dutch points system than the rent you pay allows. The score is calculated from the property itself, its surface area, facilities and energy label, and it produces a maximum legal rent. If your rent is above that maximum, it is not lawful, whatever your contract says.

The system is called the woningwaarderingsstelsel, usually shortened to WWS. It has existed for decades for social housing. Since the Wet betaalbare huur took effect on 1 July 2024 it also binds landlords in the middle segment, which brought a large number of homes rented to internationals inside the cap for the first time.

What is the WWS points system?

The WWS awards points for measurable characteristics of a home. Surface area of each room, kitchen and bathroom fittings, outdoor space, the energy label, and the WOZ value of the property all contribute. Add them up and you get a total, and that total maps to a maximum monthly rent.

Because it is measured rather than negotiated, two identical flats in the same building have the same maximum rent regardless of what each tenant agreed to pay.

What is the maximum rent for my home in 2026?

For contracts starting in 2026, the three segments are set by the points total:

Points	Segment	Maximum rent
Up to and including 143	Sociale huur	€ 932,93 per month
144 to 186	Middenhuur, regulated	up to € 1.228,07 per month
187 and above	Vrije sector	no cap on the amount

These amounts were indexed on 1 January 2026 and apply to that year. Source: Volkshuisvesting Nederland, maximale huurprijsgrenzen, and Huurcommissie, wettelijke wijzigingen per 1 januari 2026.

One point of confusion worth clearing up, because English language sources get it wrong constantly. The liberalisatiegrens for 2026 is € 1.228,07, the top of the middle segment. It is not € 932,93. That lower figure is the ceiling for social housing only.

My contract says free sector. Does the points system still apply?

The points total decides the segment, not the label on your contract. What determines which rules apply to your home is the number of points it scores and the date your contract started. Nothing else.

So a flat advertised and let as "free sector" that scores 160 points is a middle segment home with a capped rent, and the landlord is required to respect that cap. This is the single most common situation international tenants find themselves in, and it is exactly what the six month assessment described below exists to catch.

Source: Huurcommissie, Wet betaalbare huur voor huurders, and Volkshuisvesting Nederland, over de Wet betaalbare huur.

How do I check my home's points?

The Huurcommissie publishes its own Rent Check, and since November 2024 it is available in English. It is free, it is the authoritative calculator, and it is run by the body that would decide your case. If you want a number and nothing else, use it: huurcommissie.nl, Rent Check.

MijnHuising calculates the same score, shows the maximum rent that goes with it, and prepares the file you would need if you decide to take the matter further. The calculation is free either way. We only charge if you want the dossier prepared.

Do I have to go to the Huurcommissie within six months?

There are two different routes and the six month window belongs to only one of them.

Within six months of your tenancy starting, you can ask the Huurcommissie to assess the starting rent, the toetsing aanvangshuurprijs. Send the form within six months of the date your contract began. This route is set out in article 7:249 of the Burgerlijk Wetboek.

Later in the tenancy, you use a different route. You send your landlord a written proposal to lower the rent, with an effective date at least two full calendar months after you send it. If the landlord does not agree, you have six weeks from that proposed date to ask the Huurcommissie to decide. This route sits in article 7:254 BW.

Until the Huurcommissie rules, you keep paying the current rent. Source: Huurcommissie, verlaging aanvangshuurprijs vragen and huurverlaging op puntenaantal.

Can I get back rent I have already overpaid?

This depends entirely on which of the two routes applies, and it is where most English language explanations go wrong.

If the Huurcommissie assesses your starting rent within the six month window and finds it too high, the corrected rent applies from the date your contract began. The Huurcommissie's own policy book puts it plainly: the new starting rent is set with retroactive effect, from the commencement date of the tenancy.

If you go the later route, the lower rent applies from the date in your proposal. It does not reach backwards.

There is a second thing nobody tells you, and it matters more than the first. A ruling is not a payment order. The Huurcommissie says so itself: if the ruling means you have paid too much, ask your landlord for the money back yourself, and the Huurcommissie cannot help you with that. If the landlord refuses, the next step is the kantonrechter.

What does it cost?

A tenant pays € 25 in advance to start a procedure. If the ruling says you are right, you do not bear that cost. If you are partly right, it is split. A tenant on a minimum income can ask not to pay it at all, within four weeks of the payment request.

A landlord pays € 500, rising for repeated losses within four years.

Source: Huurcommissie, kosten procedure betalen.

Can I deal with the Huurcommissie in English?

Not for the forms. The Huurcommissie states that all its forms and procedures are in Dutch.

You can, however, submit evidence in English, French or German exactly as it is, with no translation. That covers the document that matters most in a rent price case, your tenancy agreement. Anything in another language needs a Dutch translation.

The Rent Check calculator is the exception and does have an English version.

Source: Huurcommissie, procedure starten.

I do not have a DigiD. What do I do?

You can still start a procedure. The online portal, MijnHuurcommissie, requires DigiD or eHerkenning, but the Huurcommissie's own process rules treat a written request sent by post as an equally valid application. The address is Huurcommissie, Postbus 16495, 2500 BL Den Haag.

There is also a third route: you can authorise someone else to act for you using the Huurcommissie's machtigingsformulier. An unsigned or incomplete form will not be accepted.

Source: Huurcommissie, procesreglement, start procedure.

Will my landlord evict me for going to the Huurcommissie?

Your landlord cannot end your tenancy simply because you did. Ending a tenancy of residential space in the Netherlands requires either your agreement or a court ruling, and the grounds a landlord can rely on are fixed by law. If you object to a termination, you stay in the home until the court decides.

Separately, the Wet goed verhuurderschap requires landlords to refrain from every form of intimidation. The government's own guidance for tenants gives the example directly: a landlord may not threaten to end your tenancy because he thinks you complain too much. Since 1 January 2024 every municipality has a meldpunt where you can report a landlord's conduct.

Sources: Rijksoverheid, huurbescherming; Wet goed verhuurderschap, artikel 2; Rijksoverheid, wat betekent de Wet goed verhuurderschap voor huurders.

Where to get free help

Before you pay anyone for anything, these exist and cost nothing.

The Huurcommissie's own Rent Check, in English, gives you your points and your maximum rent.

Het Juridisch Loket provides free legal information and has English language pages.

Municipal huurteams help tenants in some cities without charge. Availability is shrinking, Rotterdam and Utrecht are both ending theirs during 2026, but where one still operates it is usually the better route.

Student unions in most university cities run free tenant advice desks, and several publish in English.

MijnHuising exists for people who cannot use those routes, or who do not know where to start. The check itself is free. If you can do this yourself, you should.