Service Costs (Servicekosten) in the Netherlands: What a Landlord May Charge and How to Check Your Annual Statement

Servicekosten (service costs) are costs for things like cleaning, garden maintenance or a caretaker that you pay on top of your base rent. Your landlord must send you an annual statement for the previous year before 1 July, showing what you prepaid and what the costs really were. If the real costs were higher you pay the difference, and if they were lower you get money back. If the statement looks wrong, you ask the landlord to correct it first, and then you can go to the Huurcommissie.

This guide explains what service costs are, what is not a service cost, how to read the annual statement, and the exact steps and deadlines if you disagree with it. It is general information based on the Huurcommissie's official pages, not legal advice. For your own contract, the Huurcommissie and the Juridisch Loket are the places to ask.

What Servicekosten Are

The Huurcommissie describes servicekosten as costs for, for example, cleaning, garden maintenance or a caretaker (huismeester). It adds that the costs can also include an amount for items such as curtains, floor covering or furniture. You pay them in addition to the base rent, which the Huurcommissie calls the kale huurprijs.

Two practical points follow from how the Huurcommissie explains it:

• The contract names the items. Which items you pay service costs for is usually written in your rental contract. If a cost appears on your statement that you cannot connect to anything in the contract, that is a question for your landlord.
• The amount is a monthly advance. How much you pay each month is stated, for example, in the letter about the annual rent increase. That monthly amount is an advance (voorschot), not the final bill. The final bill is the annual statement.

The Huurcommissie also points to its policy book, which has an overview of all the service costs a landlord may charge. If a line on your statement looks unusual, that overview is the place to compare it against.

Gas, Water and Electricity Are Sometimes Separate

Gas, water and electricity do not always fall under service costs. According to the Huurcommissie, you then pay a separate monthly advance for utilities, and it concerns facilities for which you have your own meter. The amount is in your rental contract or in the landlord's annual rent increase letter.

This matters because the two kinds of costs are settled in the same annual statement, but they follow different logic. A cost based on your own meter reflects your own use. A shared cost such as stair cleaning does not. If your monthly costs feel high, our guide to high utility costs in the Netherlands looks at the utility side in more detail.

What Is Not a Servicekosten Item

Some costs you may pay as a tenant are not service costs at all. The Huurcommissie lists two groups.

1. Care service costs for residents of a care-linked home or care complex, for example for meals, nursing and an alarm service.
2. Taxes and levies, such as water board tax (waterschapsbelasting), waste levy (afvalstoffenheffing), sewerage charge (rioolrecht) and purification levy (zuiveringsheffing).

If you disagree with costs in these groups, the Huurcommissie says you cannot go to it. It refers you to the Juridisch Loket instead. By law the Huurcommissie may not rule on the amount of taxes and levies, which are legally required costs that you pay directly or through your landlord. So if your annual statement includes a levy, a ruling about your service costs will not tell you whether the levy itself is correct.

To understand the wider landscape of taxes tenants meet, see our rental contract reading guide, which shows where each type of cost usually sits in the contract.

The Annual Statement: What It Must Show and When

Your landlord sends you one annual statement (jaarafrekening) for the service costs. The Huurcommissie states that the landlord must send it before 1 July, covering the year before. The statement shows two things:

• the amount you prepaid each month, and
• what the actual costs were that year.

The outcome is simple. If the actual costs were higher than what you prepaid, you pay the difference. If they were lower, you receive money back.

When you receive the statement, read it against the contract and your own records:

1. Check the year and the period. It should cover the previous year, and the months you lived there.
2. Compare the prepaid total with your own payments. The total of your monthly advances should match what you actually transferred.
3. Read each cost line. Does every item relate to something named in your contract, or to a facility you really have?
4. Look for taxes and levies. These do not belong among service costs, as explained above.
5. Ask for an explanation of anything unclear. A landlord can often explain a line simply, and an explanation is faster than a procedure.

Do not pay a surprise back payment blindly, and do not ignore it either. Pause, check the points above, and write to your landlord about specific lines.

If You Have Not Received a Statement

If it is 1 July and nothing has arrived, the Huurcommissie says to ask the landlord for it in writing first. An email or letter is enough, and it gives you a dated record.

If you still do not have the statement after 3 weeks, you can involve the Huurcommissie. The Huurcommissie then determines how much you have to pay. Keep your message and the date you sent it as your own record.

If You Disagree With the Statement

The Huurcommissie asks you to follow a fixed order.

Step 1: ask the landlord to adjust it. Send an email or letter and write down which cost items on the statement you disagree with. Be specific. "Line three looks too high" is more useful than "this is all wrong".

Step 2: allow 3 weeks. The landlord has 3 weeks to respond. They may explain the statement, or tell you they will adjust it. If you cannot agree, or the landlord does not respond, you can involve the Huurcommissie.

Step 3: send in the form. You log in with DigiD or eHerkenning, start a new procedure and choose the form "Afrekening servicekosten (huurder)". You attach documents if they are needed.

Step 4: watch the deadline. The Huurcommissie says you have 2 years after the moment the statement should have reached you. If you disagree with the 2024 statement, or never received it, the online form can be sent in up to and including 30 June 2027. Do not wait until the last week. Old payment records and emails get harder to find.

What You Can Expect From the Ruling

What happens next depends on your type of home and your contract date.

• Binding ruling. For social sector homes, and for mid sector or free sector homes with a contract signed on or after 1 July 2024, you and your landlord receive a ruling. Both of you must abide by it. If the statement is correct you pay the amount. If not, the Huurcommissie sets the correct amount of the service costs.
• Advice only. For a free sector home with a contract from before 1 July 2024, you and your landlord receive advice instead. This is only possible if the landlord agreed in writing that the dispute may be submitted. That agreement can be in the contract, or it can be written down later.

If the ruling shows you paid too much, you ask the landlord for your money yourself. The Huurcommissie says it cannot help you with that step. If the landlord refuses to repay, the Huurcommissie points you to the Juridisch Loket for the next move.

A Short Checklist

• Find your contract and note which service items it names.
• Note the monthly advance for service costs and for any separate utilities.
• Put a reminder in your calendar for 1 July each year.
• Keep proof of every payment.
• Dispute in writing, with specific cost lines.
• Write down the date you asked for a missing statement.
• Remember the 2 year limit and the 3 week response period.

For the costs that come with moving in, such as deposits, see our guide to getting your deposit back. For the rules on how your base rent may change each year, see rent increase rules.

How Huisly Fits In

Huisly helps you find current homes for rent across the Netherlands and open the original listing source. Use the rental search to compare homes and save the ones you like. Whether a listing's price includes service costs, and what they cover, is set by the landlord or agent in the original source and in the contract. Huisly does not review contracts or statements and does not advise on your legal position, so read the cost breakdown in the original source before you commit.

Sources

• Huurcommissie, Servicekosten en kosten voor gas, water en elektriciteit: what service costs are, what is excluded, and the annual statement.
• Huurcommissie, Jaarafrekening servicekosten beoordelen: the 1 July deadline, the 3 week steps, the 2 year limit, and the type of ruling.