Objection to rent increase after drop in income
Are you getting a rent increase of 50 or 100 euros this year even though your income has fallen? Then check whether you can object. And did you know you can still have the increase adjusted up to three years after the fact? If you are a tenant of a regulated (social) home, you may be subject to an income-related rent increase. Your landlord may only ask for this if your income is above a certain limit. Read full article in Dutch…
Action plan for gas-free Groningen
Make Groningen a leader in sustainability in the Netherlands. Give at least 35,000 euros extra per home. Then all homes can be reinforced, made more sustainable and taken off the gas.
This is the recommendation of the joint housing associations and tenants’ organisations in the Groningen natural gas area. They went into the neighbourhoods together in May to gauge the wishes of the tenants. Before the summer, they will present the Kr8 housing action plan to State Secretary for Mining Vijlbrief. Read full article in Dutch…
Many households in energy poverty excluded for energy allowance
A large group of low-income people with high energy bills did not claim the energy allowance provided by municipalities. This is according to the new report by the Woonbond’s Meldpunt EnergieAlarm. The report is based on 902 unique reports from tenants. 60% of these reporters fell just short of qualifying for the one-off energy allowance of €1,300 because of their income, even though they needed it. Among them also many cohabitants, for whom the income threshold is higher than for singles. Read full article in Dutch…
Poor maintenance, still a rent increase?
Can you successfully object to the 1 July rent increase if your social housing is poorly maintained?
As of 1 July this year, many tenants will receive another rent increase. But what if your social housing is poorly maintained. Can you then successfully refuse the rent increase?
Poor maintenance is not a valid reason to refuse the annual increase. However, you can do something else about poor maintenance. For various types of defects, you can ask the Rent Commission to reduce the rent. This can be done at any time of the year. Lowering the rent due to poor maintenance is therefore separate from objecting to the rent increase. Read full article in Dutch…
Want to know more about different types of rent? Read this…