Netherlands: rental market overview

Dutch residential tenancy sits in Book 7 of the Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) — the general lease rules from art. 7:201 onward, plus a dedicated set of dwelling-lease provisions from art. 7:232. Since the Wet vaste huurcontracten took effect on 1 July 2024, an open-ended (onbepaalde tijd) lease is once again the default rule for independent housing.

A fixed-term lease is now only valid for the specific tenant groups designated by government decree (the Besluit specifieke groepen tijdelijke huurovereenkomst) and a handful of other statutory exceptions — and even then, for independent housing, it's capped at two years. Sign a fixed-term lease outside those narrow exceptions, and it automatically becomes open-ended by operation of law, with the tenant keeping full statutory protection regardless of what the contract says.

On top of the Civil Code, the Wet goed verhuurderschap (Good Landlordship Act) requires the landlord to give the tenant written information about the rent, service costs, deposit terms and how to reach the landlord — and it's the same law that caps the deposit itself.

The deposit (waarborgsom) is capped at twice the bare rent, excluding service costs, under art. 7:261b(2) BW — a limit introduced by the Wet goed verhuurderschap. It's settled after the tenancy ends, the property is returned, and the handover report (opleveringsrapport) has been signed.

The refund timeline is strict: the landlord must return the deposit within 14 days of the tenancy ending, or within 30 days if there's damage under art. 7:218 BW, or unpaid rent, service costs or an energy performance fee to offset against it. If the landlord does offset anything, they have to notify the tenant in writing with a full breakdown of the costs — a bare deduction with no explanation doesn't satisfy the law.

On an open-ended lease, the tenant can walk away at any time with just one month's notice (art. 7:271(5) BW) — there's no need to justify it. The landlord's position is the mirror opposite: termination is only possible on one of the exhaustive grounds listed in art. 7:274 BW, and if the tenant objects, the landlord has to ask the kantonrechter (subdistrict court) to actually set the termination date — there's no way to simply serve notice and have it take effect unilaterally.

A serious breach of the payment obligation can lead to dissolution of the lease, but only through the kantonrechter after a prior written warning — Dutch law specifically rules out extrajudicial, out-of-court dissolution for a dwelling lease (art. 7:231(1) BW). Late payment on its own only attracts statutory interest under art. 6:119 BW.

The Civil Code doesn't prescribe a mandatory move-in inspection report, but the opleveringsrapport is a contractual safeguard that matters a great deal in practice. It documents the condition of the property at handover, and it's directly relevant to the burden of proof on return under art. 7:224(2) BW — without it, the tenant is in a stronger position to argue that any damage found at move-out was already there.

It's also the document the deposit settlement under art. 7:261b BW leans on: recording the meter readings and condition at the start of the tenancy gives both parties a clear, agreed baseline to compare against when the tenancy ends.

Minor repairs — the kind listed in the Besluit kleine herstellingen under art. 7:240 BW — are the tenant's job, aimed at keeping the dwelling in the same condition it was handed over in. The landlord, in turn, keeps the building's installations properly maintained and fixes anything beyond that under art. 7:206 BW; the tenant just has to flag the need for repair without delay under art. 7:222 BW.

The tenant can't make changes to the property without the landlord's consent (art. 7:215 BW), can't keep or breed pets without prior consent, and — per the standard Brokik clause — commits to not smoking in the dwelling at all. The landlord, for their part, must give notice before entering except in an emergency, and owes the tenant both a monthly statement (by the 5th of the month) and a full annual service-cost overview within six months of the relevant service-cost year ending, under art. 7:259 BW.