People who rent a house or flat in the four major cities in Brabant are increasingly challenging the service costs with the Rental Committee. With success, because nine out of ten cases are won by the tenant. According to the Rental Committee, tenants pay an average of 61.32 euros too much per month. “While service costs should not yield a penny of profit.”
This is evident from an analysis that Omroep Brabant made of statements by the Rental Committee. We looked at statements made by the Rental Committee about service costs between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022, in the Brabant cities of Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Breda and Tilburg.
Number of cases is increasing
The number of cases about service costs is increasing sharply. While the number of rulings remained around 20 in 2019, 2020 and 2021, in 2022 there were a total of 129 rulings on service costs in the four major cities in Brabant. Service costs are costs for, for example, cleaning, garden maintenance or a caretaker. The service costs may also include an amount for curtains, carpeting or furniture, for example.
Laura from Breda went to the rent assessment committee last year because she thought that the costs she had to pay were incorrect. A few weeks ago, she received the ruling from the Rental Committee, which states that she paid more than 1,200 euros too much last year. “That’s quite a bit,” she laughs as a farmer with a toothache. “Especially for a student.”
Laura’s alarm started ringing when nothing was done about the problems in her apartment. “I suffer a lot from damp and mold in my studio. In my bathroom, even a complete wall, including a sink, is hanging loose. We also regularly have faults, the WiFi does not work for days and last winter we were without hot water several times.”
But solutions were not forthcoming. Reason for Laura to ask landlord Xior for clarification. “I wanted a statement that stated how those costs are calculated. But I never got that explanation.”
Not a penny of profit
The housing association is a national organization that stands up for the interests of tenants, such as Laura. According to spokesman Mathijs ten Broeke of the housing association, things often go wrong in this way. “We know that landlords abuse the service charge, when they should not make a penny profit on it. Everything should be spent on bills.”
And so, according to Ten Broeke, it helps to knock on the door of the Rental Committee. “The chance that you will be right as a tenant is quite high given the recent statements. If you suspect that you are paying too much and are not getting an explanation, it turns out that you are often right. That often concerns a few tens a month. Think about what that means for a whole year.”
But what if you’re right? “The landlord must follow the ruling of the Rental Committee,” explains Ten Broeke. “But we also see that this does not always happen immediately. Then it is unfortunately necessary to go to the subdistrict court. In any case, do not stop paying your rent yourself. Then you also play with your own rights.”
Rent commission
The Rental Committee is an independent national committee to which tenants and landlords can go if they disagree about the rent. In addition to service costs, the Rental Committee also looks at other costs. For example, the rent itself or if something is broken in the house. More information about the rent assessment committee can be found at this website.
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