Report abuses by landlords

The Good Landlordship Act states the rules for landlords. They are not allowed to discriminate or threaten, or charge excessively high deposits or service costs. Is your landlord not obeying the rules? Then you can report these abuses by your landlord. As of 1 January 2025 you will also be able to report if you are paying too much rent.

Look at the Begin link: rules for landlords, end link. on the page of the Good Landlordship Act. On this page you will also find Begin link: information for tenants, end link. . For example, on how you can check whether you are paying too much rent.

You can file a complaint if 1 of the points applies to your situation:

• You are looking for a private rental property (not from a housing association).
• You are renting a residential property from a private landlord or a rental agency. A rental agency brings tenants in contact with private landlords.
• You are a foreign employee (migrant worker) with a worker-tenant agreement. In this case, you are working and are housed through an employment agency.

Are you renting a property from a housing association? If so, submit a complaint to the association renting out the property. The association will deal with the complaint itself.

You can report abuses in the following situations.

The landlord:

• discriminates against you
• threatens you or makes you feel scared
• asks too high of a deposit (more than 2 times the basic rent)
• does not provide the rental agreement in writing
• does not provide good information about:
  • your rights and duties as a tenant (if they have not been included in the rental agreement)
  • the amount of the deposit and the date when you will get the deposit back after termination of the rental agreement
  • the contact details where the tenant can reach the landlord
  • information about the municipal hotline for complaints about landlords
  • the service costs: you must get a full breakdown of the costs

The rental agency:

• charges you mediation fees

• your name, address, telephone number and email address
• contact details for the landlord or the rental agency you are reporting
• the address of the property, if the complaint is about a property you are renting or want to rent
• short description of the problem, if possible with photos and supporting documents

You are also allowed to file a complaint anonymously. You will then not need to provide your name and contact details.

After you file a complaint

• You will receive a copy of your complaint. The municipality will assess your complaint as quickly as possible. To do this it is important that you provide clear and complete documentation. The municipality is unable to check or resolve all the complaints it receives. The municipality will always deal with complaints about serious situations.
• Is your complaint correct and the landlord is not abiding by the rules? The municipality can then oblige the landlord to rent out the property according to the rules. Or it can give the landlord a fine.

The municipality will discuss with you how it can address the situation. How long it all takes depends on the situation. If the situation is not extremely urgent, the municipality will follow up on the complaint later. Sometimes it needs to build up a case. It will then need more time.

• Begin link: Good Landlordship Act, end link.
• Begin link: The Hague Housing Inspection Bureau (Haagse Pandbrigade), end link.  
• Begin link: Rental advice for tenants, end link.
• Begin link: Rental advice for landlords, end link.
• Begin external link: Rented housing(External link), end external link. (website of the Government of the Netherlands)