1855 euros too much for a room on Keizersgracht: tenant is right after complaints

1,950.00 euros per month. That’s how much a tenant paid for a room of about twenty square meters on Amsterdam’s Keizersgracht. To test whether this is a reasonable rent, this tenant went to the rent committee on September 19 last year. He ruled that this rental price was anything but reasonable.

First of all, it concerns a so-called all-in rental price, no distinction is made between the basic rental price and the service costs. “That is not allowed,” explains Gert-Jan Bakker of the !WOON Foundation. This foundation offers help to tenants in and around Amsterdam. “That immediately results in a reduction,” he emphasizes.

The committee also looks at the chamber itself using the points system. This expresses the quality of a rental home or room in a number of points. This number of points is linked to a maximum permitted rental price.

“The number of points for the living space is 203. This number of points is the maximum
reasonable rental price 476.84 euros,” can be read in the ruling of the rental committee.

Serious defects

But it doesn’t stop there. In addition to a significant rent reduction based on the points system, serious defects have also been identified in the room.

For example, there is a ten millimeter crack in the kitchen, which causes a lot of draught. The drip tray of the shared toilet is leaking. And the door to the non-self-contained space cannot be locked because the tenant never received the key.

Because the landlord could not prove during the hearing that he had taken sufficient steps to repair these defects, the rent committee may reduce the rent again to 20 percent of the maximum rent. Which amounts to 95.37 euros per month, as of September 1, 2023.

“That may seem like an extreme reduction,” Bakker explains. “But the starting rent is extremely high. Then you also get a significant reduction.”

What now?

As long as these defects have not been repaired, the rent may not be increased. Once the defects have been resolved, the rent will increase to the maximum amount for this room: 476.84 euros per month.

In addition, the landlord must pay 300 euros in fees. The landlord has eight weeks to appeal. “The game will probably continue there before an irrevocable decision is made,” Bakker suspects.

A disadvantage is that the tenant has a temporary contact. Experience shows that landlords are not very eager to extend contracts if the tenant has gone to the rental committee, Bakker explains. “Nevertheless, I advise all room renters who think they are paying too much to contact us. We can always help.”