Minister: temporary rental contracts good for Dutch students

The Indefinite Rental Contracts Act will come into effect on July 1. Then indefinite rental contracts will become the norm again. Student rooms are excluded from this Act.

The House of Representatives had asked for an exception for foreign students. They should still be able to obtain temporary contracts. But the law now applies to all students, due to European rules.

Also read: What does the new Rental Contracts Act mean for you?

According to Minister Hugo de Jonge, Dutch students should be happy that they can still get temporary rental contracts. Otherwise, international students would have an advantage, he says in response to criticism. Because if only foreign students are allowed to receive a temporary contract, landlords will prefer to choose an international rather than a Dutch student.

Sometimes landlords use temporary contracts to increase the rent in the meantime. De Jonge wants to break that pattern with another bill: the Affordable Rent Act. Interim increases will then no longer be possible, because there will be a maximum rental price.

So landlords will not actually benefit from giving a temporary contract, the minister says. A temporary contract is only of use to them if the room is actually available temporarily.

In the House of Representatives, SP and D66 in particular felt surprised by the minister’s course. But they no longer see any options to stop the measure. Too few other parties support their debate requests.

HOP, Olmo Linthorst