Checking and reclaiming service charges
Service charges are usually an advance payment, not a fixed amount. Your landlord must send you a statement every year before 1 July covering the previous year, broken down by type of cost (article 7:259(2) of the Civil Code). If that statement is not provided or is incorrect, you can have the payment obligation assessed by the Huurcommissie (Rent Tribunal) (article 7:260 of the Civil Code). You get back whatever you paid above what has actually been accounted for.
What you can do now
- Look up in your tenancy agreement which items have been agreed as service charges, and whether they are an advance payment or a fixed amount.
- Compare the annual statement with it. Is there an amount for each item, and is it clear what that amount is based on?
- Not received a statement by 1 July? Request it in writing from your landlord.
- Received it but do not agree? Write by e-mail or letter stating which items you disagree with and why. The landlord then has three weeks to respond.
- If you cannot resolve it, call in the Huurcommissie. You have two years to do so, counting from the moment at which you should have received the statement.
What exactly are service charges?
Service charges are the payment for goods and services that the landlord supplies in connection with occupying the property (article 7:237(3) of the Civil Code). Think of cleaning of communal areas, a caretaker, window cleaning, garden maintenance, lighting in the stairwell or the use of furniture in furnished lettings.
Which items may actually be charged as service charges is set out in the Service Charges Decree (Besluit servicekosten). That is not an open list: a cost item that does not fall under it does not belong on your statement. Costs for gas, water and electricity that run through an individual meter are not service charges but utilities with their own regime.
This is the distinction that most often goes wrong in practice. “Administration costs”, “key money”, “contract costs” or a surcharge on the rent that cannot be linked to a service supplied are not service charges. Nor do they disappear because you signed for them.
Advance payment or fixed amount: why the difference matters
An advance payment must be settled; a fixed amount need not. If you pay an advance, the payment obligation is ultimately the amount actually spent, not what you have transferred each month. If the advance was too high, you get the difference back. If it was too low, the landlord can ask for an additional payment, provided he substantiates it.
Some landlords deliberately agree a fixed amount to avoid that settlement. Whether that is legally valid depends on the item and on your contract. With an all-in rent, in which rent, service charges and utilities are lumped together, you can have the price split: only once it is clear what the basic rent is can you test the rent and the service charges each in their own way.
The annual statement: which time limits apply?
| What | Period |
|---|---|
| The landlord provides the statement for the previous calendar year | No later than six months after the end of that year, so before 1 July (article 7:259(2) of the Civil Code) |
| You request the statement in writing if it is not provided | After 1 July; the landlord gets three weeks |
| You ask the landlord to adjust the statement | The landlord gets three weeks to respond |
| You call in the Huurcommissie | Within two years of the moment at which you should have received the statement |
An example of how that last time limit works out: the statement for 2024 had to reach you before 1 July 2025, and a request to the Huurcommissie about it can be made up to and including 30 June 2027. Source: Huurcommissie, assessing the annual service charges statement.
Can you go to the Huurcommissie?
If you rent in the social sector or the mid-rent sector, you can have the payment obligation for service charges assessed. The ruling is binding and, under article 7:261 of the Civil Code, takes the place of what you had agreed.
If you rent in the free sector and your tenancy agreement was concluded before 1 July 2024, this is only possible if the landlord has agreed with you in writing that a dispute may be submitted to the Huurcommissie. That agreement may be in the tenancy agreement or may have been recorded later. If it is missing, the case goes through the subdistrict court.
One restriction always applies: the Huurcommissie does not rule on the level of taxes and levies. These are costs required by law, so you will not find them reflected in a ruling on the statement.
What it usually comes down to
- No supporting documents. You are entitled to inspect the invoices behind the items. A statement that only shows total amounts cannot be checked.
- Items that do not belong there. Maintenance that is the landlord’s responsibility, insurance for the building or management costs are in principle not service charges.
- Allocation keys. In a complex, costs are divided among the residents. Ask which key was used and whether it fits your home.
- Furnishing. In furnished lettings, a substantial amount is often charged for soft furnishings and furniture. That too must be in proportion to what is actually there.
- Nothing for years. If there has never been a statement, it is rarely about just one year. Calculate back as far as the time limit still runs.
What you had better not do
Reducing or stopping the advance payment on your own initiative. Even if the statement is demonstrably wrong, this creates payment arrears, and that considerably weakens your position if the landlord starts proceedings on that basis. Keep paying, record your objection in writing, and claim the money back.
*Further reading: Am I paying too much rent? Rent check and points and Service charges and expats.*
Frequently asked questions
How much in service charges is normal?
There is no standard amount. What you owe depends on which items have been agreed, whether those items may be passed on under the Service Charges Decree, and what they actually cost. Test against those criteria, not against an amount.
Does my landlord have to show me the invoices?
You are entitled to an overview of the costs broken down by type (article 7:259(2) of the Civil Code) and to inspect the supporting documents. A statement showing only total amounts cannot be checked.
I have never received an annual statement. What now?
Request it in writing from your landlord. If you still do not have it after three weeks, you can call in the Huurcommissie. That is possible up to two years after the moment at which you should have received the statement.
Can I get back service charges I have overpaid?
Yes. With an advance payment, the payment obligation is ultimately the amount actually spent. What you paid in excess was paid without being owed, and you can claim it back.
Do these rules also apply in the free sector?
The statutory obligation to provide a statement also applies there. The route to the Huurcommissie is more limited: with a contract from before 1 July 2024, it is only possible if something has been agreed about this in writing. Otherwise the case goes through the subdistrict court.
Are gas, water and electricity also service charges?
Not if you purchase them through an individual meter; they are then utilities with their own rules. If they run through the landlord without your own meter, a statement should indeed be provided.
Want to talk it over?
Call 070 450 0300 or send your tenancy agreement and the annual statement via our contact form. The first consultation is free of charge and confidential. We have six offices and can also help you in Turkish, Polish and English. More about our services: tenancy law.
Tenancy law in your city. Service charges are often mixed up with shared facilities and with lettings arranged through work or an agency. The local explanation: Tenancy lawyer Amsterdam · Tenancy lawyer Eindhoven · Tenancy lawyer Tilburg. The full overview can be found under tenancy law.