Before signing, you must send your agreement to the Rental Team South Limburg, who will look for totally free to make certain whatever is reasonable and legal. You might have to wait up to one working week to hear back from them. We comprehend that the entire rental procedure is hectic and that there may not suffice time for contract checks, so if this is not possible, then you should check out your contract yourself. The file will likely be in Dutch, so non-Dutch speakers will want to get it equated.

When examining your contract, you need to take note of:

1. fixed or indefinite agreement

A contract for a fixed duration consists of a final date. This means that the contract ends immediately after the predetermined duration, provided that the property manager notifies the renter in blogging about the end of the lease in excellent time (between one and three months before the concurred end-date). Indefinite tenancy arrangements continue as long as the renter keeps paying lease and the property does not end the agreement. These agreements typically come with a minimum term, before which the tenant might not terminate the lease.

2. Basic rent and added fees

The fundamental lease is expected to show the quality and area of the residential or commercial property. This rental cost only includes the real lease. Added fees might be gas, water and electricity, service expenses, web and home insurance coverage. When it concerns lease, it is very important to comprehend the distinction in between fundamental rent and surcharges. Check our area on rental costs to learn how the system works.

3. Rent increase

Rent increases are managed by law, and depend on whether your accommodation falls under the social or private housing sector. For social sector accommodation, rent boosts may be explained in your rental contract, or can even be proposed by your landlord a minimum of two months before the lease boost would take result. You as a tenant can turn down the proposition, and your case might wind up before the Rent Tribunal. As a basic rule, rent increases can happen as soon as every 12 months, and generally take place on July 1st. The maximum yearly rent boost portion for the social sector is determined by the federal government.

There are less rules using to personal sector accommodation, which suggests that as a renter you have less protection. Rent can increase every 12 months, nevertheless, increases in between these 12 months are also possible if enhancements have actually been made to the accommodation. The proprietor is not obliged to inform you of any lease increases within a set amount of time. If the tenant does not wish to pay higher lease, the proprietor may terminate the agreement. Watch out for provisions in your agreement showing a set annual rent boost (so-called indexation provisions). If no indexation provision is included in the agreement, the property manager can just increase the rent by offering the occupant a brand-new contract stating the greater lease (among other things). If the occupant does not consent to the brand-new agreement for the exact same residential or commercial property, the property manager may then terminate the contract.

4. Deposit amount and return

A deposit is normally required, but any amount worth more than two months of lease is typically thought about unreasonable. The contract needs to clearly specify how and when your deposit will be transferred back to you.

Should you sign even if the contract is not ideal?

If an agreement appears overly difficult on you as a renter, or looks questionable, it may be an excellent concept to let it go. Even if you're lacking time to discover a location, it might trigger you more trouble in the long-lasting to sign a bad contract than to search for short-lived lodging while you take the time to find something that's really worth it.

If you find a place that you truly like, the agreement is acceptable, and the only issue is that the lease is a little high (EUR750+), it can often be an excellent concept to sign, as there is a possibility you could get some refund by applying to the Huurteam Zuid-Limburg. You should tread really thoroughly here, as there is a caution: in scenarios like this, you always need to assume the worst and be prepared to pay this high rent in complete, in case the Huurteam Zuid-Limburg can not help you claim any excess rent back. If you do sign an agreement you find expensive, contact HTZL within 6 months to start a procedure claiming back any excess rent.

You can learn more about procedures to claim back excess rent and company costs here.

Terminating an agreement

Terminating an agreement can be a difficult process with lots of rules surrounding it. In the Netherlands there are primarily 2 kinds of rental agreements: an agreement for a specified duration and a contract for an undefined duration. It is very helpful to know which one you have, since it might make a distinction in how you ought to end your contract. The default rule is that occupancy agreements have actually to be ended by notifying. this implies that you as a renter send your property owner an official letter notifying them that you wish to terminate the rental agreement. You don't have to offer a factor for termination, and termination remains in concept unilateral, which implies that you don't need the property manager to grant it.

Contract for an undefined period
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In this type of contract, a minimum period (for example 12 months) is enabled. During this minimum period, you can not end your contract, unless the property owner agrees. The landlord can set conditions to consent to this, for instance, you might pay an extra month's lease or be required to find a beginner to take over the contract. After the minimum period you can end the agreement with the proper notice duration.

The advantage of this kind of agreement is that the proprietor can not end your contract easily. There needs to be legal reasons.

Contract for a defined duration

In this type of agreement (usually a 12-month agreement) there is a date the contract starts and a date the agreement ends. This agreement can not have a minimum period and for that reason you can end the contract during the defined duration if you give right notice.
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The downside is that the property owner has a simple way to terminate your contract on completion date of the specified period. The property owner only requires to let you know 1 to 3 months before the end date that the agreement is going to end, they do not require legal reasons to end the contract on that date. If the property manager does not remind the renter of completion date and the occupant lives longer than the defined period, the contract automatically develops into a contract for an undefined period. You do not require a new contract for that, the old contract immediately alters, and the rest of the contract stays valid.

If you wish to terminate your contract as an occupant, often the agreement lets you know how to give correct notice. This can be a contact form through a site of a company, or an e-mail to the landlord/agency. If the contract does not discuss how to notify, the correct method to end the agreement is sending out a letter by means of registered post, mentioning that you wish to end the rental agreement per that date. You could also email the letter initially, however if you do not receive a reaction, you need to still send the letter through signed up post to be sure. We recommend that you send both a letter and an e-mail. You can download a sample of an official letter notifying here.

You still should handle a correct notification duration when cancelling your rent. Normally, the notice equates to the regard to payment, which has actually been jotted down in the agreement. For instance, if you pay lease monthly, you must give one month's notification . Unless in a different way mentioned in the rental arrangement, the cancellation of the rent needs to be gotten by the proprietor before the very first day of the month.

One FULL month (e.g. indicating you can not end the contract on the 15th of April for the 16th of May. If you offer observe on the 15th of April, you can just end the agreement by the 31st of May/1st of June).