Your landlord may not change the locks, put your belongings out on the street or cut off your gas, water or electricity supply to get you out. For as long as the tenancy agreement runs, the landlord must make the home available to you and leave it at your disposal to the extent necessary for the agreed use (Article 7:203 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW)). A residential tenancy can only be terminated for a breach by the court (Article 7:231(1) BW), and a forced eviction is carried out by a bailiff on the basis of a judgment (Article 556(1) of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Rv)). Without those two, locking you out is self-help, which the law does not allow.
Nederlands: Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands: De verhuurder vervangt de sloten of zet u buiten: wat nu?
Türkçe: Bu makaleyi Türkçe okuyun: Ev sahibi kilitleri değiştiriyor veya sizi dışarı çıkarıyor: şimdi ne olacak?
What you should do now
- Record it. Take dated photos of the lock and the door. Film a short video showing that your key no longer fits.
- Ask for access in writing. Send a text message or e-mail with a time stamp, so it is established that you asked and when.
- Find witnesses. A neighbour who saw it happen, the name of the locksmith, a message from a property manager.
- Keep your tenancy agreement and proof of payment. You must be able to prove quickly that you are the tenant.
- Call us the same day. 070 450 0300. This is exactly the kind of case that interim relief proceedings exist for.
May the landlord change the lock if you are in rent arrears?
No. Rent arrears entitle the landlord to demand payment and to ask the court to terminate the tenancy and order eviction. They do not entitle the landlord to deny you access himself. This follows from the statutory system: for built residential property, only the court has the power to terminate the tenancy for a breach by the tenant (Article 7:231(1) BW), and eviction is reserved to a bailiff holding an enforceable title (Article 556(1) Rv, and only after service under Article 430(3) Rv).
The exception in Article 7:231(2) BW concerns something else: extrajudicial termination after the mayor has closed the premises under Article 174a of the Municipalities Act, Article 13b of the Opium Act or Article 17 of the Housing Act. That is the drugs and nuisance route through the municipality, not a route for a landlord with an unpaid bill.
And if the landlord enters the home or takes my belongings?
That may be a criminal offence. Article 138(1) of the Dutch Criminal Code makes it an offence to unlawfully enter a home that is in use by another person, or to remain there unlawfully and fail to leave immediately when the rightful occupant demands it. As long as you are the tenant, you are the person using the home. Taking your household contents may also amount to theft or embezzlement.
Even so, the civil route is usually the fastest way to get what you need: back into your home. The police will take a criminal complaint and may intervene in serious cases, but they will not restore your access and do not decide on your tenancy agreement. Keep the two tracks separate: a criminal complaint for the criminal side, interim relief proceedings for the key.
May he cut off the gas, water or electricity?
No, that is not allowed either. The obligation under Article 7:203 BW concerns your enjoyment of the home, and a home without water or electricity does not provide that enjoyment. If the landlord supplies the utilities through his own connection, cutting them off to force payment is a form of self-help that you can have prohibited in interim relief proceedings. If the contract with an energy supplier is in your own name, that is a different matter, with its own rules and its own payment arrangements.
How do I get access again quickly?
Through interim relief proceedings before the subdistrict court judge (kantonrechter). You then claim an order that the landlord give you access immediately, usually subject to a penalty payment for each day of non-compliance. A case like this can be heard within days. What you need for it is exactly the evidence from the checklist above: that you are the tenant, that you have no access and that you asked for it. See also our explanation of interim relief proceedings.
If you have suffered loss because you had to stay somewhere else or because belongings have disappeared, you can claim compensation for it. Keep your receipts and make a list straight away of everything that was in the home.
By way of illustration. A tenant who is two months in arrears comes home and finds that his key no longer fits. The landlord sends a text message saying he may only come back once he pays. The tenant takes photos, asks for access in writing and goes to the subdistrict court judge. The arrears are a claim the landlord is perfectly entitled to collect, but he was not allowed to use the lock to do so. This is a hypothetical situation illustrating the rule, not a case handled by our firm.
Where things go wrong
- You force the door yourself. Understandable, but it shifts the dispute to damage and fault and weakens your position.
- You record nothing. Without photos, a date and a written request for access, it becomes your word against theirs.
- You wait and see. The longer you stay elsewhere, the easier it becomes to argue that you left the home of your own accord.
- You hand in the keys as a protest. That may be interpreted as consent to ending the tenancy.
Further reading
- Your landlord terminates the tenancy or announces an eviction
- Rent arrears and threatened eviction: what can you do?
- Eviction judgment received: objection, appeal or enforcement dispute
- Your landlord does not remedy the defects
Frequently asked questions
May my landlord change the locks if I am in rent arrears?
No. The landlord must make the home available to you and leave it at your disposal (Article 7:203 BW). Termination is only possible through the court (Article 7:231(1) BW) and eviction only by a bailiff with a judgment (Article 556 Rv).
Is it a criminal offence for the landlord to lock you out?
Entering a home that is in use by someone else without permission may constitute unlawful entry (Article 138(1) of the Dutch Criminal Code). To get your access restored, interim relief proceedings are usually the fastest route.
May the landlord cut off the gas, water or electricity?
Not to force payment. If he supplies these utilities through his own connection, you can have the disconnection prohibited in interim relief proceedings.
How do I get back into my home quickly?
Through interim relief proceedings before the subdistrict court judge, in which you claim access subject to a penalty payment. Record in advance that you are the tenant, that your key does not fit and that you asked for access in writing.
Contact us
Are you locked out of your own home, or is your landlord threatening to do so? Call 070 450 0300 or send us your documents via arslan.nl/contact. The first consultation is free of charge and confidential. We have six offices and can also help you in Turkish, Polish and English.
Written by Ömür Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the Netherlands Bar’s register of practice areas for tenancy law and social security law. Substantively reviewed on 21 September 2026 against the statutory text, the Recommendation on tenancy cases of the Tenancy Law Expert Group (LOVCK, May 2023) and HR 28 September 2018, ECLI:NL:HR:2018:1810.
