Your monthly payment is usually made up of the base rent (kale huur) plus service costs (servicekosten). They follow different rules, so it helps to check both.
What are service costs?
Service costs are payments for extra goods and services from the landlord, such as cleaning of shared areas, lighting in the stairwell, furniture, or energy if it is not on your own meter. They must be based on the actual costs.
The yearly statement
Your landlord should send you a yearly overview of the service costs, showing what you paid in advance and what the actual costs were. If you paid too much, you should get money back. If the landlord does not provide this overview, you can raise it with the Huurcommissie.
Warning signs
- Service costs that are a large share of your total payment.
- A fixed amount that never changes and never comes with an overview.
- Costs for things that are really part of the base rent, such as maintenance of the building.
Check the whole picture
Our full report separates the base rent and service costs from your contract, checks the base rent against the WWS maximum, and flags service costs that look high.