Landlords bypass student room rules

Students are increasingly getting joint contracts for the entire student house. This allows landlords to circumvent the rules and charge higher rents for rooms.

Especially in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, students often get a group contract, according to research by NOS op 3. There are different variants. Sometimes a contract only lists one main tenant and the others do not even officially live there.

Rent commission

With this, landlords want to prevent students from going to the rent commission to force a rent reduction. Group contracts basically fall outside the point system that municipalities use to keep student room rents in check.

In the point system, each room has a maximum rent, which depends on, for example, area and amenities. Many landlords find this rent too low and try to circumvent the system.

Challenge

The National Student Union is shocked. President Elisa Weehuizen: “This is really a cottage industry, the landlords are only concerned with how they can squeeze as much money out of student rooms as possible. Any kind of responsibility they avoid.” The union informs students with group contracts about their position and what follow-up steps they can take.

However, students can try to challenge an imposed group contract. The practice is sometimes different from the contract, for example, if students transfer rent directly to the landlord or if the price is fixed per room.