Rent increase in the Netherlands: the maximum and how to object

How much your landlord may raise the rent depends on the segment: for 2026 the maximum is 4.1% for regulated social housing (from 1 July 2026), 6.1% for mid-market rentals and 4.4% in the free sector. An increase is also invalid if the landlord misses the formalities of art. 7:252 BW, such as a written proposal at least two months before the effective date, and in the free sector it needs a clause in the contract.

Which segment is your rental in?

Since the Affordable Rent Act (Wet betaalbare huur) took effect on 1 July 2024, Dutch residential lettings fall into three segments. Which one applies is determined by the number of points the dwelling scores under the housing valuation system (woningwaarderingsstelsel), not by what the parties call the contract.

• Regulated, social segment – the lowest point band. The rent may never exceed the maximum that the points produce, and the annual increase is capped by a percentage fixed each year by the minister.
• Mid-market segment (middenhuur) – the middle point band. This segment was regulated for the first time by the Affordable Rent Act and has its own maximum rent and its own capped annual increase.
• Free sector (vrije sector, liberalised) – the top point band. There is no maximum rent, but a statutory cap on the annual increase has applied since 2021 and remains in force.

The point boundaries and rent thresholds are indexed annually, so a dwelling can change segment when a new contract is signed. The segment is fixed at the start of the tenancy and does not shift mid-contract because a threshold moves.

How is the annual maximum calculated?

The mid-market maximum can come out higher than the free-sector one. That is not a mistake: the mid-market ceiling follows collective wage development, while the free-sector ceiling takes the lower of inflation and wage development. In 2026 wages (5.1%) outran inflation (3.4%), which explains the gap between 6.1% and 4.4%. The percentages are recalculated every year and published on rijksoverheid.nl and by the Huurcommissie. Note the different calendars: in the regulated segment the new maximum applies to increases taking effect from 1 July, while in the mid-market and free sectors it runs with the calendar year. An increase proposed under last year’s percentage for a date in the new period is excessive, and the excess is recoverable.

What must a rent increase proposal contain?

In the regulated and mid-market segments the increase does not happen automatically. The landlord must make a written proposal (voorstel tot huurverhoging) under art. 7:252 BW, and the formalities matter more than most landlords expect.

• Notice period. The proposal must reach the tenant at least two full months before the proposed effective date. For an increase on 1 July, the proposal must be sent by 30 April at the latest.
• Written form. Email is generally accepted, provided receipt can be shown.
• Contents. Art. 7:252 BW prescribes what the proposal must state: the rent currently in force, the change proposed, the new rent that results and the date from which it is to apply. Where the landlord relies on the income-dependent increase, the tax authority’s income statement must be enclosed. A proposal that omits one of these particulars is defective.
• Once every twelve months. In the first twelve-month period after the tenancy begins the rent may be increased at most once, and after that only against the end of each successive twelve-month period (art. 7:250 BW). Where the increase rests on a contractual clause the same twelve-month interval applies, and a clause producing more than one increase in twelve months is void (art. 7:251 BW). A narrow exception exists where a temporary rent discount is being phased out (art. 7:252c BW).

The consequence of a defective proposal is simple and, for landlords, expensive: the increase does not take effect. It is not reduced, corrected or postponed by operation of law. The rent stays where it was, and the landlord must start again with a fresh, compliant proposal and a fresh two-month notice period – in practice often costing a full year of indexation. Tenants who have already paid can reclaim the difference.

How and when do you object?

The route depends on the segment, and the two routes work in opposite directions.

Regulated and mid-market proposals under art. 7:252 BW

You write to the landlord, before the proposed effective date, saying that you object and why. Nothing further is then required of you. If the landlord wants to press ahead, it is the landlord who must ask the Huurcommissie to rule, within six weeks of the proposed effective date (art. 7:253 BW). If that window passes, the increase simply does not take effect – the single most useful thing an objecting tenant can know.

Indexation under a contractual clause (mid-market and free sector)

Where the increase flows from an indexation clause rather than an art. 7:252 BW proposal, you apply directly to the Huurcommissie, within four months of the date the increase took effect (art. 7:248 BW). Missing that four-month window is fatal to the challenge, so diarise it. The Huurcommissie will cap the increase at the statutory maximum if the clause produced more.

When is an indexation clause unfair?

In the mid-market and free sectors there is no statutory right to an annual increase. Everything depends on the contract. If the lease contains no rent increase clause at all, the landlord may not raise the rent annually – full stop. If it contains a clause setting a percentage below the statutory ceiling, the contractual figure governs. If it sets a percentage above the ceiling, the ceiling governs.

Over that statutory layer sits European consumer law, and this is where a great deal of money is at stake. Residential leases with private individuals are consumer contracts, so the unfair terms rules apply and the courts must test rent increase clauses of their own motion.

The leading authority is the Hoge Raad’s ruling of 29 November 2024, ECLI:NL:HR:2024:1780. It concerned the common free-sector formula of “CPI indexation plus a surcharge”. The court held, in summary:

• The indexation element and the surcharge element are assessed separately, even where they appear in a single contractual sentence. They serve different purposes: one compensates for currency depreciation, the other for cost increases beyond inflation.
• A clause providing for CPI indexation is not, in itself, unfair.
• A clause adding a fixed surcharge of up to 3% above CPI indexation is not unfair in principle: the financial consequences are foreseeable, the landlord has a legitimate interest, and the tenant can terminate.
• If a surcharge clause is found unfair, it must be disapplied in its entirety. The court may not reduce it to an acceptable 3%. The tenant is put back in the position they would have been in without the clause and can reclaim the overpaid increases.

For a landlord using an “indexation plus up to 5%” or “plus up to 7%” formula, an unfair surcharge disappears for the whole tenancy and past surcharges become repayable, across every unit let on the same template.

Two points of nuance matter. The ruling concerns the clause, not the ceiling: even a fair clause cannot deliver more than the statutory ceiling in force for that year. And an unfair clause is not cured by the landlord charging less than it permits; it is the wording that is tested.

Can the rent go up after renovation?

Yes, for genuine improvements, separately from the annual cap; maintenance and repair never justify an increase.

An increase after works is a different matter from the annual increase and is not subject to the annual percentage cap. The distinction that decides most disputes is between improvement and maintenance: physical changes or additions that increase the enjoyment of the dwelling – built-in appliances, a new bathroom fitting, insulation and other energy measures – can justify an increase. Replacement and repair cannot, because keeping the property in good order is what the rent already pays for.

Where the landlord wants to renovate an occupied dwelling, art. 7:220 BW requires a reasonable proposal: a written package setting out the works, the disruption, any compensation and the proposed new rent. A tenant who refuses a reasonable proposal can be compelled; a tenant faced with an unreasonable one cannot.

If the parties cannot agree on the rent consequence, either of them may ask the Huurcommissie to rule on whether the proposed increase is reasonable, within three months of completion of the works. The Huurcommissie sends an investigator, checks that the works genuinely amount to improvement, and tests the increase against the costs actually incurred. This route exists both in the regulated and mid-market segments (art. 7:255 BW) and in the free sector (art. 7:255a BW), though in the free sector there is no points ceiling for the result to be measured against.

What is the income-dependent increase?

In the regulated social segment only, a landlord may propose a higher increase for households above certain income levels (art. 7:252a BW), expressed as a fixed euro amount per month rather than a percentage.

• Two income bands exist above the ordinary threshold, each carrying its own fixed monthly amount rather than a percentage.
• The income limits, the monthly amounts and the reference year are fixed annually and published by the Huurcommissie; the assessment is made against the household income of an earlier tax year, not the current one.
• The income of a resident child who has not reached the age of 23 is left out of account where that child’s aggregate income (verzamelinkomen) stays below the published limit.
• Designated groups of chronically ill and disabled tenants are exempt.

The landlord must obtain an income indication from the Belastingdienst and enclose it with the proposal. Omitting it makes the proposal defective, with the usual consequence that the increase fails. The maximum increases may not be stacked: the landlord takes either the ordinary percentage or the income-dependent amount, not both. Because the thresholds and amounts move every year, check the table the Huurcommissie publishes for the year in which the increase is to take effect.

Can you ask for a rent reduction instead?

Tenants tend to think defensively about the annual increase when the better question is whether the rent was ever lawful. In the regulated and mid-market segments the rent may not exceed the maximum the dwelling’s points produce. If it does, you should not merely resist the increase but propose a reduction.

The procedure under art. 7:254 BW mirrors the increase procedure. You send a written proposal stating the current bare rent, the proposed lower rent, the reduction and the effective date, which cannot fall earlier than two full calendar months after the proposal is sent. If the landlord refuses or does not respond, you ask the Huurcommissie to rule, and must do so within six weeks of the proposed reduction date. You keep paying the existing rent until the decision comes through.

Where the points show a substantial overcharge, this route is worth far more than a percentage point of indexation, and it can be combined with a defects claim. Running the points check should be the first step whenever a regulated or mid-market tenant questions their rent.

What should you check as a landlord?

A defective increase does not take effect at all, and tenants can reclaim what they paid.

• Increase more than once in twelve months. A second increase within the same twelve-month period is invalid (art. 7:251 BW), whatever the contract says.
• Increase during a fixed term with no contractual basis. In the mid-market and free sectors, no indexation clause means no annual increase for the whole term.
• Increase by refusing to renew. A Dutch residential tenancy for an indefinite period does not lapse and cannot be “renewed” on new terms at the landlord’s option. Offering a tenant a choice between a higher rent and leaving is not a lawful route to an increase: ending a tenancy requires statutory grounds and, if the tenant disagrees, a court order.
• Recover the increase through service charges. Loading rent into service charges or an all-in price does not survive scrutiny.
• Ignore an objection. In the regulated and mid-market segments a landlord cannot dismiss an objection unilaterally; the only way forward is the Huurcommissie, within six weeks.

What should you check as a tenant?

Most increases can be tested in an hour with the proposal, the contract and the points calculation.

• Check that the proposal reached you at least two months before the effective date (art. 7:252 BW).
• Compare the percentage with the 2026 maximum for your segment: 4.1%, 6.1% or 4.4%.
• Check that the last increase was at least twelve months ago (art. 7:250 BW).
• In the free sector, read the indexation clause and check any surcharge above inflation.
• Have the WWS points counted: if the rent already exceeds the maximum, propose a reduction under art. 7:254 BW.
• Object in writing before the effective date, or apply to the Huurcommissie within four months for a clause-based increase.

What can we do for you with a rent increase?

Our tenancy lawyers assist tenants and landlords with rent increases and reductions.

• We check an increase proposal against the formalities of art. 7:252 BW and the maximum for your segment.
• We review indexation clauses in light of ECLI:NL:HR:2024:1780 and calculate what can be reclaimed.
• We draft your objection or your reduction proposal under art. 7:254 BW.
• We represent you before the Huurcommissie and the kantonrechter.
• We revise landlords’ contract templates and annual increase letters.

Summary

• Your tenancy sits in one of three segments – regulated, mid-market or free sector – and the segment fixes both the annual increase ceiling and, outside the free sector, the maximum rent itself.
• A rent increase proposal under art. 7:252 BW is only valid if it is in writing, reaches you at least two months before the effective date, and states the current rent, the new rent, the change and the date; a missing item makes the whole proposal defective and the increase does not take effect.
• Object before the effective date and the burden shifts to the landlord, who must then apply to the Huurcommissie within six weeks; miss that window and the proposed increase simply falls away.
• A free-sector indexation clause with a surcharge above 3% is vulnerable under EU unfair-terms law following the Hoge Raad’s ruling of 29 November 2024 (ECLI:NL:HR:2024:1780): if a surcharge clause is found unfair, it is struck out in full, not reduced to 3%.
• If your rent already exceeds the points maximum, a reduction request under art. 7:254 BW is usually worth more than resisting the next increase.

Frequently asked questions