THE RENT CHECK
It often turns out that tenants pay too much each month. You can easily check this yourself by doing a rent check. You may be able to save quite a bit of money. In this article we explain how you can do this and what to look out for.
WHAT IS THE RENT CHECK?
The maximum rent of a social rental home is determined on the basis of the Housing Rating System. This means that every social rented house has a maximum rental price based on allocated points. However, it is important that you have a social rental property. Unfortunately, the point system of the Housing Rating System does not apply to free sector rent.
There is social rent when the basic rent, at the time the rental agreement begins, is below the liberalization threshold. If the rent is above this amount, the property falls under the free sector rental and the point system no longer applies.
The rent check is a point system from the Rent Tribunal that you can use to assess your rent. Depending on the property, it takes an average of 30 minutes to complete. You can stop the check in between and continue later if necessary.
HOW TO DO THE RENT CHECK?
You can do the rent check on the Rent Tribunals website. Here you have to indicate what kind of living space you rent: self-contained living space, non-self-contained living space and trailers and pitches.
If you are not sure whether you are renting self-contained or non-self-contained housing, the question of whether you share the toilet, kitchen and/or shower with others is important. If this is not the case, it is independent living space.
Next, you can start the check. The check clearly indicates how to measure everything. It is important to consult relevant Rent Tribunal policy books during the rent check (at the bottom of this article), for more explanation on how to measure living space, for example. You can fill it in globally at first and then do it in more detail with us if necessary. In doing so, you fill in the living area, the length of the kitchen sink, the energy label, among other things.
After everything is filled in, the maximum number of points the living space has is calculated. Using this number of points, the maximum rent is then calculated. If it turns out that you are paying too much, the steps you can take are explained below.
HOW TO PROCEED?
If it appears that you are paying too much, you can always contact us. Then we will first perform a rent check together or approach the landlord. Our goal is always to come to a solution in consultation with the landlord. If that fails, we can start a procedure with the Rent Tribunal to request a rent reduction.
If you prefer to do this yourself, you must first send a letter to the landlord requesting a rent reduction. This letter must contain at least the following:
- The bare rent you are paying now, i.e. without the service charges.
- The point score of the house or room.
- The lower basic rent you want to pay.
- How much you think the rent should be reduced.
- The date on which the rent reduction should take effect.
- This can only be done 2 months after the letter is sent.
If the landlord does not agree or does not respond within 6 weeks, the tenant can start a procedure with the Rent Tribunal. You can do this on this page. In doing so, the tenant must provide the following information:
- The scoring of the property
- The letter to the landlord
- The landlord’s response to the proposal
It can cost you a maximum of 25.- in fees that you pay to the Rent Tribunal, this 25.- you get back if you are in the right. Doing a rent check is always worthwhile.
HANDY LINKS
To fill in the WOZ value of your property, you can use this link.
To fill out the energy label of the property, you can use this link.
The policy book for the scoring of independent living, you can find under this link.
The policy book for the scoring of independent living, you can find under this link.
For more information on the rent check, you can use this link.
