The Huurcommissie, in English

What it decides

The Huurcommissie handles rent disputes, for example:

• Your starting rent is too high (toetsing aanvangshuurprijs). Ask within 6 months of the start of your first contract for this home. If the rent is lowered, it counts from the day your contract started, and you claim the overpaid months back from your landlord.
• Your rent is too high for the points your home has, later in your tenancy. You first send your landlord a written proposal; if they don't agree, the Huurcommissie decides. The lower rent applies from the date you proposed.
• Service costs, rent increases and defects in the home.

Not sure if your rent is too high? How to check.

Filing, step by step

You file online at huurcommissie.nl. These are the steps for a starting-rent case, as we saw them when filing our own case in September 2026:

• Choose the procedure. For a rent that was too high from the start: toetsing aanvangshuurprijs.
• Three yes/no questions: do you want the rent checked, is this your first contract for this home with this landlord, and did it start more than 6 months ago.
• Your details, your landlord's and the property manager's (if there is one), and the home's address.
• The rent: the start date, the signing date, and the basic rent when you moved in. Upload your contract as a PDF.
• When you are not available for the inspection.
• Send and pay €25 by iDEAL or Wero.

With your contract at hand, it takes about 30 minutes.

After you file

Your landlord is told about the case. An inspector visits your home 4 to 10 weeks after you pay and measures it for points. Both sides get the inspector's written report and can react to it. If needed, there is a hearing; in 2025 about half of all rulings followed one, the rest were decided on paper. Then the Huurcommissie rules on the rent.

The Huurcommissie aims to finish a case in 4 to 6 months; in 2025, 64% of cases were decided within 4 months. A lowered starting rent still counts back to the day your contract started.

If you win, you get your €25 back and your landlord is charged instead. The ruling is binding, unless you or your landlord asks the cantonal court (kantonrechter) to decide within 8 weeks after the ruling is sent.

Sources: huurcommissie.nl (procedure and costs), Huurcommissie annual report 2025, Dutch Civil Code art. 7:262.

Is it in English?

Mostly not. The Huurcommissie's forms and procedures are in Dutch, and a hearing is always in Dutch. The online form can be switched to English, but it is machine-translated: in our filing, the Dutch "Ja" (yes) showed up as "And". An English contract is fine to upload.

Can someone file for you?

Yes, with a signed authorization. The Huurcommissie has a standard form for it (machtigingsformulier). That's what we do: we file, handle every letter and the inspection, and you only sign. We pay the €25, and you pay nothing unless your rent goes down.