“Am I paying too much rent?” This question is asked a lot and will be answered differently by different people you ask, because it is ultimately a judgment call and it depends on the criteria you use for it. Many landlords believe they are not charging too much rent because they believe in the free market and the price is apparently paid for it. Some renters also think this way because they compare themselves to others who pay even more.
Our government sees a safe roof over your head as a fundamental right and therefore decided to regulate the rental housing market. So there are rules in place that are the criteria for judging whether you are overpaying or not. These are elaborated in the “housing valuation system,” which can be found in Appendix 1 of the “Housing Rents Decree. This valuation system assigns points to the property’s characteristics, and those points in turn can be translated into the maximum price that should be paid. Our rule of law adjudicates on the basis of this valuation system, which is why we also use it as our starting point with Rent Help.
Am I paying too much rent? – The odds of ‘actually’ paying too much rent are extremely high
Strictly based on the valuation system and the characteristics of homes being rented, about 9 out of 10 people pay too much rent. We concluded that from our research on tens of thousands of rental properties offered nationwide for which the price asked was higher than our estimate of the price appropriate to the government’s valuation system. The difference is still large by region; for example, in Amsterdam 97% of people pay too much rent, while in Tilburg it is only 73% and in Enschede 67%.
The chances of actually being able to lower then are smaller
Although almost everyone pays more rent than is appropriate under the valuation system, not everyone can actually reduce it. A big reason for this is that if you agree to a rent that is too high and do not object to it for too long, your right to reduce will automatically expire. This applies to cases where you accept a free sector price and do not lower it. Apparently, you can then handle the price, and over time your landlord may also take into account the extra high income.
There are also properties for which the number of points genuinely falls above the liberalization limit (see our earlier blog: What is a liberalized rent?) and thus rightly fall into the free sector. For these properties, the valuation system is indicative and not legislative. Tenants of these homes (often larger new construction properties) can therefore not downgrade. This number has shrunk since May 2022, as the government then introduced a change in the law that now places a large group of homes (especially the somewhat smaller homes in expensive cities) under limit.
However, as we explain earlier in our blog “How can I apply for a rent reduction?” there are more grounds on which you can reduce than just the valuation system. For example, if there are maintenance defects, or your service charges are too high. Therefore, it pays to fill out the check on Apply for Rent Reduction with Rent Help – Rent Help and see if you are still in time for a reduction on the valuation system, or if there is another option for you!
