News item | 31-03-2022 | 14:23
The rental of a berth for a houseboat can soon only be canceled with a legal ground for cancellation. If the houseboat owner disagrees, the judge decides. Tenants also receive the same maximization of the annual rent increase as tenants of homes in the private sector. This regulates the rent protection bill for moorings for houseboats, which the Senate adopted on 29 March. The House of Representatives previously approved the proposal. The amendment to the law will come into effect shortly; The exact start date is still to be decided.
Owner and tenant at the same time
In the Netherlands there are approximately 12,000 berths for houseboats. About 5,000 of these are rented out. Houseboat residents therefore regularly own a houseboat and rent a berth at the same time. A houseboat without a berth is worth much less than a houseboat that does have a berth: an average of € 127,000 compared to an average of € 327,000. Losing a berth therefore has major financial consequences. Houseboat owners are also unable to move to another berth: there are hardly any additional berths. That is why rent protection is important for tenants of berths.
Improvement position
The House of Representatives requested an investigation into the position of houseboat owners who also rent a berth. This research resulted in a bill that improves the position of residents. The bill provides that the following protection and conditions will apply to tenants of berths for houseboats:
- Tenancy protection in the event of tenancy termination: the landlord must use one of the statutory grounds for termination in the event of termination and if the tenant does not agree to the termination of the tenancy agreement, only the court can terminate the tenancy.
- “Buy does not break rent”: the sale of the berth does not end the rent. The new owner of the berth will legally continue the lease as lessor
- When the houseboat is sold, the new owner of the houseboat can also take over the rent of the berth.
- Notwithstanding the rental of housing: in the event of the death of the tenant of a berth, the rental of the berth is transferred to the heirs of the houseboat.
- The annual rent increase is – just like with rental properties in the free sector – maximum inflation + 1% until 1 May 2024. In 2022 that will be 3.3%.
Transition Period
The conditions and (rent) protection will immediately apply to new leases from the effective date of the law. Because these involve significant changes in the relationship between lessor and lessee of a berth, a transition period of two years applies to current leases.
The maximization of the annual rent increase does apply immediately to current leases from the effective date of the law.