Rent increase in the Netherlands: what landlords may charge and what tenants can do

Almost every Dutch tenancy sees the rent go up once a year. What the landlord may ask, and whether the increase is valid at all, depends on which of three segments the property sits in, on what the contract says, and on whether the landlord observed a short but strict set of formalities. This article sets out the rules as they stand on 30 August 2026, with the 2026 maximum percentages.

Three segments, three sets of rules

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. It has its own maximum rent and, since 1 July 2025, its own capped annual increase.
• Free sector (vrije sector, liberalised) – the top point band. There is no maximum rent, but the annual increase has been capped by statute since 2021, and that cap has been extended to 1 May 2029.

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.

The 2026 maximum increases at a glance

The mid-market cap being higher than the free-sector cap is not a mistake. The formulas differ: the mid-market ceiling is tied to collective wage development plus one percentage point, while the regulated and free-sector ceilings take whichever of price development and wage development is the lower, again plus one percentage point. In a year when wages outrun prices, the mid-market figure is the higher. The statutory basis is art. 7:248 BW, worked out in art. 10 Uhw (Uitvoeringswet huurprijzen woonruimte).

The percentages are recalculated annually, so the numbers above will change; the mechanism will not. The formulas themselves are laid down in art. 10 Uhw: for regulated rents the maximum is the lower of price development plus one percentage point and wage development plus one percentage point, and for mid-market rents it is wage development plus one percentage point. If you are reading this in a later year, apply those formulas to that year’s published figures rather than the table. The figures in the table are the maxima fixed for 2026: they apply to increases taking effect from 1 July 2026 in the regulated segment, and from 1 January 2026 in the mid-market and free sectors.

The formal requirements of a rent increase proposal

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 (art. 7:248 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 a tenant objects, and when

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

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

The tenant writes to the landlord, before the proposed effective date, saying that they object and why. Nothing further is then required of the tenant. 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, the tenant applies 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.

Indexation clauses: the free sector and the unfair terms problem

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 prejudicial ruling of the Hoge Raad of 29 November 2024, ECLI:NL:HR:2024:1780, given on questions referred by the Rechtbank Amsterdam on 11 January 2024. It concerned the very 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, absent special circumstances: the financial consequences are foreseeable, the landlord has a legitimate interest, and the tenant can terminate.
• If a surcharge clause is 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 has a restitution claim for the overpaid increases.

The consequence for landlords using an “indexation plus up to 5%” or “plus up to 7%” formula is severe. The surcharge is not trimmed; it disappears for the whole life of the tenancy, and past surcharges become repayable. For a portfolio landlord with a standard template the exposure is cumulative across every unit. Litigation on surcharges above 3% continues in the subdistrict courts, and because the standard applied is the European one on unfair terms, the possibility of a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union has not gone away. A landlord relying on a surcharge clause, and a tenant claiming back what was paid under one, should both check where the case law stands before committing to a position.

Two points of nuance matter. The ruling concerns the clause, not the ceiling: even a fair clause cannot deliver more than 4.4% in the free sector in 2026. And an unfair clause is not cured by the landlord charging less than it permits; it is the wording that is tested.

Rent increase after renovation or improvement

An increase after works is a different animal 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.

The income-dependent additional 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.

• For single-person households in 2026: up to €50 per month for income between €59,504 and €70,149, and up to €100 per month above €70,149.
• For multi-person households in 2026: up to €50 per month for income between €68,858 and €93,531, and up to €100 per month above €93,531.
• The income of a resident child who had not reached the age of 23 on 1 January 2026 is left out of account where that aggregate income (verzamelinkomen) stays below €26,819.
• 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. The thresholds above are those published by the Huurcommissie for 2026, and they are tested against the household’s income in 2024.

Rent decrease: the mirror image, and often the stronger move

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, the tenant should not merely resist the increase but propose a reduction.

The procedure under art. 7:254 BW mirrors the increase procedure. The tenant sends 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, the tenant asks the Huurcommissie to rule, and must do so within six weeks of the proposed reduction date. The tenant keeps 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 a landlord may not do

• 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.

Practical guidance

For tenants. Check the segment first, then the arithmetic, then the formalities – in that order, because a formal defect kills the increase whatever the percentage. Diarise the two deadlines: object before the effective date in the regulated and mid-market segments, and apply to the Huurcommissie within four months for a contractual indexation. If your free-sector lease adds a surcharge above 3% to indexation, take advice before paying. And run the points check even if the increase looks correct.

For landlords. Audit your template: a surcharge clause drafted before the Hoge Raad’s 2024 ruling is a live liability. Send proposals early, in writing, stating the current rent, the new rent, the effective date and the objection route, and keep proof of dispatch. Enclose the tax authority statement for any income-dependent increase. If a tenant objects, calendar the six-week Huurcommissie deadline immediately – missing it costs the whole year.