As if students aren’t using every cent to survive in the Netherlands already, Dutch landlords are taking advantage of the housing crisis to make bank for themselves.
Wondering if your rent for one room is a bit too high? That’s probably because it is. According to the NOS, landlords throughout the Netherlands are dodging the points system like they’re in a game of dodgeball.
Why are they doing this? To make more money off the backs of students, natuurlijk. By staying out of the points system, they can charge more rent with a ‘group contract’.
Young students are easy pickings
So what is a ‘group contract’, and how does it work? With this type of contract, housemates are on one contract together, and they all pay their share of the rent to one ‘main tenant’ who then transfers the entire rent to the landlord.
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Landlords use this type of contract by renting out an entire house as an independent residence, which lets them charge a ridiculously high rent. The worst part? This also prevents the tenants from lowering the rent through the rent assessment committee. Echt niet leuk!
Young students will often still sign these rental agreements. In fact, a quarter of room tenants in the Netherlands say they have a contract for an entire house, while in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, this rises to 50% of renters.
Some may not know what they’re getting themselves into, while others simply don’t have a choice — ahh, the student housing crisis rearing its ugly head again. 😬
Shifty or necessary?
Some people have the opinion that landlords need to opt for group contracts instead of room rentals. “The points system for rooms is outdated, so you barely cover the mortgage, let alone other costs,” real estate lawyer, Huib Hielkema, tells the NOS.
This can also give students more freedom, apparently. Helaas, that’s not the experience one student had.
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Marc (not his real name) has three housemates whom he shares a living room, kitchen, and bathroom with. They each have their own room and pay €830 each — yep, a whopping €3700 in total.
According to his rental agreement, he rents a house with a group, not a room. The contract also states that he can choose his housemates, but in the real world, the landlord chooses. Uhmm, that seems a bit unfair… 🤔
What do you think of group rental contracts? Tell us in the comments!
