Netherlands · Servicekosten

Service costs in the Netherlands: the yearly statement and the Huurcommissie

On top of rent, many tenants pay a monthly advance for service costs (servicekosten): cleaning the stairwell, a caretaker, heating the hall, energy. Your landlord has to settle them with you every year, and you can challenge the numbers.

What they are

Payments for services on top of the rent. The landlord may not make a profit on them, and they must be reasonable.

Yearly statement

You should receive the statement of actual costs for the previous year before 1 July. The 2025 statement is due by 30 June 2026.

No statement?

Ask for it in writing. If nothing arrives within 3 weeks, you can go to the Huurcommissie or the kantonrechter.

Your right to check

You may ask to see the invoices the statement is based on.

How to check your statement

• Check it arrived on time, before 1 July.
• Check it only charges costs that were actually made. Compare it with your neighbours if you can.
• Ask to see the invoices (cleaning company, shared electricity and so on).
• If it looks wrong, tell your landlord in writing what you think is wrong and ask for a proper answer.

When the Huurcommissie can decide

The Huurcommissie (rent tribunal) gives a binding decision on service costs for tenants in social housing, and for mid-rent and private-sector tenants whose tenancy started on or after 1 July 2024.

If you rent in the private sector on a contract from before 1 July 2024, the Huurcommissie can only give advice, and only if your contract says it will advise on disputes. Otherwise the kantonrechter (sub-district court) decides.

The decision becomes final eight weeks after it is sent. If you paid too much, ask your landlord for the money back or deduct it from your rent payment.

Starting a case

Cases start online on MijnHuurcommissie, where you log in with DigiD. You then receive a payment request for the cost of the procedure. The forms are in Dutch: the Huurcommissie suggests asking someone you know, the Juridisch Loket or a local huurteam for help. A contract in English, French or German can be sent as it is; other languages need a Dutch translation. Your landlord always receives a copy of your form.

New rules from 1 January 2027

The Wet modernisering servicekosten (service costs modernisation act) starts on 1 January 2027.

• Contracts signed on or after 1 January 2027: landlords may only charge 8 kinds of service costs: heating and cooling; electricity, gas and water; furniture and appliances they supply; minor repairs listed in the Besluit kleine herstellingen (such as cleaning, window washing, garden upkeep); caretaker, security and waste; TV, internet and lift-alarm signals; insurance and funds (such as a contents insurance for items the landlord supplies, or a glass fund); and administration costs. Anything else can't be charged as service costs, and there are fixed rules for how they are calculated. You can also ask the Huurcommissie to check the monthly advance for all 8 kinds.
• All contracts: two or more tenants can start one case together (a collective request). And if a landlord gives no statement, or one that doesn't meet the rules, the Huurcommissie can set the costs using standard amounts, which can come out as low as €0. It can first give the landlord time to fix the statement.
• Contracts signed before 1 January 2027: the old rules continue, and you can only have the advance for gas, electricity and water checked if you have your own meter. You and your landlord can agree to use the new rules, but only if you agree.

Keep a record

Service-cost disputes are won with paperwork: your contract, the monthly advances you paid, every statement, and your written messages with the landlord. Keep them together from the day you move in, alongside your dated move-in photos.

Sources: Huurcommissie: new service-cost rules from 1 January 2027 · Huurcommissie: starting a procedure · Volkshuisvesting Nederland: Wet modernisering servicekosten · Woonbond: how to check your service costs. General information, not legal advice.