How to check a Dutch rental contract before signing in NL

Once you have found a home, the next risk is signing a contract whose legal form, price structure or attachments do not match what you thought you were renting. The useful check is not whether the document looks professional. It is whether the parties and property are correctly identified, the contract type makes sense, basic rent is separated from service costs and utilities, the point score can be checked, the deposit and fees are lawful, and the clauses and move-in evidence match what was promised. This guide is the pre-sign review. Finding the property remains a separate task, and disputes after the tenancy begins belong in the rental-rights guide.

Get the complete draft contract and every annex before you review it. Keep the listing or written offer, the landlord or agent details, any supplied WWS point score, the payment request and written promises made during the viewing. If you only have a booking form, summary page or payment link, ask for the full tenancy agreement first. Do not transfer a deposit or other one-off amount just to gain access to the document you are being asked to sign.

Start here, because the price check and the end-date check both depend on the kind of accommodation and on which legal route the contract actually uses.

• A self-contained home with your own front door, kitchen and bathroom

  Check that the agreement lets you see basic rent, service costs and utilities separately. Use the Huurcommissie Huurprijscheck for self-contained accommodation to test the WWS point score and the maximum basic rent that follows from it.

• A room or other non-self-contained accommodation

  Use the Huurcommissie route for non-self-contained accommodation instead, because the point system and the price logic differ. Do not assume the rent segment an advertisement names tells you which rules apply to the home you are renting.

• A contract with a fixed end date, or one labelled temporary or short stay

  Treat the label as a prompt to identify the legal route, not as proof that the end date is valid. An indefinite agreement is the normal route for a new tenant and the temporary forms are exceptions. Student, international, expat, short-stay and diplomatic-clause labels are not interchangeable legal categories.

1. 1

   Get the complete written contract and identify the parties

   Review the full tenancy agreement, not only a booking form, summary page or payment request. Check the tenant and landlord or agent names, the address and property description, start date, payment method, included spaces or items, and every annex or house-rule document the agreement refers to.

   Do this: Put the draft, annexes and written offer side by side and mark anything that is missing or does not match what you viewed.

   Documents needed

   • Complete draft contract
   • Annexes or house rules
   • Listing or written offer

   Processing time

   Before signing or transferring the deposit.

   Common mistake: Do not treat a summary page as the contract when important terms are held in annexes you have not received.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · What the tenancy agreement has to record
2. 2

   Check the contract type and end clause

   New tenants normally receive an indefinite tenancy agreement under the current rules. If the agreement has a fixed end date or calls itself temporary, short stay, student, expat or diplomatic, identify the legal form and why that exception applies before relying on the end date. The labels are not interchangeable.

   Do this: Find the clause that says how and when the tenancy ends, then match that route to the current official tenancy-type guidance.

   Documents needed

   • Draft contract
   • Any annex governing duration or termination

   Processing time

   Before you rely on a fixed end date or accept a temporary form.

   Common mistake: Do not assume a fixed end date is valid just because the agreement calls itself temporary; identify which current legal exception applies.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · When a temporary tenancy is possible
3. 3

   Separate basic rent, service costs and utilities, then check the points

   The agreement should let you identify the basic rent separately from service costs, utilities and other charges. Check the WWS point score supplied with the agreement and use the current Huurcommissie Huurprijscheck that fits the type of accommodation. Use the live tool instead of a copied annual rent threshold.

   Do this: Write down each monthly component, compare the landlord-provided point score with the Huurprijscheck and investigate any material mismatch before signing.

   Documents needed

   • Draft contract
   • Supplied WWS point score
   • Property details needed for Huurprijscheck

   Processing time

   Before accepting the advertised price as the correct basic rent.

   Common mistake: A self-contained apartment and a room or other non-self-contained home use different Huurprijscheck routes.

   Official source

   Huurcommissie · Huurprijscheck, the official rent and point-score check
4. 4

   Check the deposit and every upfront fee

   For a new tenancy the deposit may be no more than two months of basic rent. Identify what every upfront payment is for. If a letting agent is acting for the landlord, the tenant should not be charged a second mediation fee for the same letting, and making the rental contract itself is not a separate tenant charge.

   Do this: Make a ledger of the deposit and every one-off amount, ask for the legal or contractual basis of anything unclear and resolve it before transferring money.

   Documents needed

   • Invoice, payment request or payment schedule
   • Contract clauses about deposit and fees

   Cost

   Deposit maximum: two months of basic rent for a new tenancy.

   Processing time

   Before transferring the deposit or any administration, contract, key or mediation amount.

   Common mistake: Keep proof of payment and challenge unexplained fees before paying rather than assuming the invoice makes them valid.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · Which extra costs, deposit and fees a landlord may ask for
5. 5

   Read the clauses that control day-to-day use

   Check the clauses that will govern daily life in the home: occupants, relevant house rules, pets or subletting where applicable, rent-increase wording, repair and maintenance responsibilities, landlord access and the written information the landlord must provide. A landlord normally needs the tenant's permission to enter, apart from defined exceptions such as an emergency.

   Do this: Highlight restrictions, access clauses and repair responsibilities, then compare them with the written information the landlord is required to provide.

   Documents needed

   • Contract
   • Annexed house rules
   • Landlord information sheet or equivalent

   Processing time

   Before signing.

   Common mistake: A clause is not automatically lawful merely because it appears in a signed contract.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · The rules for landlords and letting agents, including their information duties
6. 6

   Match the contract to the condition and inventory

   Confirm which furniture, appliances, storage, parking or other items are included and how their condition will be recorded. Rijksoverheid advises recording the condition of the property in writing at the start, so the contract or handover process should provide a clear condition report and inventory.

   Do this: Make sure the inventory and planned condition report describe the property you are taking over, and plan to keep dated photos at handover.

   Documents needed

   • Inventory
   • Furniture or equipment list
   • Draft or planned move-in condition report

   Processing time

   Agree the evidence process before signing and complete it at handover.

   Common mistake: Do not sign an inventory or condition report you have not checked against the property.

   Official source

   Rijksoverheid · What the tenancy agreement has to record
7. 7

   Resolve differences in writing before you sign or pay

   Ask for corrections or written confirmation of any promise that changes the draft. Sign only when the final agreement and annexes match what you agreed, then save the signed contract, point score, corrections, condition or inventory evidence and proof of payment together.

   Do this: Resolve the marked differences, sign only the final version and create one evidence pack for the tenancy.

   Change your address after moving

   Documents needed

   • Final contract
   • Annexes
   • WWS point score
   • Written corrections or confirmations
   • Payment evidence

   Processing time

   Final check immediately before signature and payment.

   Common mistake: Do not accept a promise that the paperwork will be fixed later for a term that affects the rent, duration, fees, use of the home or what is included.

   Official source

   Government.nl · Step-by-step plan for tenants

• The complete draft tenancy agreement and every annex or house-rule document it refers to
• The listing, written offer or email trail showing what was promised
• The landlord or letting-agent details
• The WWS point score supplied for the property
• The inventory or furniture and equipment list, and the planned move-in condition report
• A payment schedule showing basic rent, service costs, utilities, deposit and every one-off amount

• For a new tenancy, the deposit may be no more than two months of basic rent.
• If the letting agent is acting for the landlord, you should not be charged a second mediation fee for the same letting.
• Making the rental contract itself is not a separate tenant charge.
• Basic rent, service costs and any other charge should be distinguishable from one another in the agreement rather than merged into one advertised amount.
• Which service costs a landlord may pass on is set out in current official guidance, so check that guidance rather than copying a static list of categories.

Do this review before you sign and before you transfer a deposit or other upfront amount. Ask for enough time to read the complete agreement and annexes; an urgent move-in date does not remove the contract, rent, fee or information checks.

Requirements depend on your situation. Check the latest requirements with the relevant authority.

• Assuming a temporary label or a fixed end date is automatically valid.
• Reviewing only an all-in advertised monthly amount instead of the separate rent, service-cost and utility components.
• Trusting an advertised rent segment or a landlord-supplied point score without running the Huurprijscheck.
• Paying unexplained administration, contract, key or duplicate mediation charges.
• Assuming every written clause is lawful because it is written down.
• Signing before the inventory and the move-in condition evidence are clear.
• Relying on verbal promises that are missing from the final agreement.

• Save the final signed agreement and all annexes together.
• Keep the WWS point score, the listing or offer, any written corrections and the payment evidence with them.
• At handover, create or review the written condition report and inventory, and keep dated photos.
• After you have moved, report the address change to your municipality.
• Check huurtoeslag separately if your home and household may qualify.