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Find your way home in the Netherlands with 20,000+ rental listings at your fingertips!
© 2025 Luntero. All rights reserved.
LUNTERO
Find your way home in the Netherlands with 20,000+ rental listings at your fingertips!
© 2025 Luntero. All rights reserved.
Luntero
As of July 2023, Dutch law caps security deposits at a maximum of two times the base monthly rent.
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A short-stay visa that allows travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days, which is entirely unsuitable for long-term renting.
A citizen of a European Union member state, who enjoys the right to freedom of movement and work within the Netherlands.
An internationally recognized form of certification that validates the authenticity of a public document for use in another country.
A legally valid translation of an official document performed by a translator who has been officially sworn in by a Dutch court.
The process of converting official documents from a foreign language into Dutch or English to make them understandable and acceptable for official procedures.
A person's record of managing debt and credit in a country other than the Netherlands, which is often difficult or impossible to verify for landlords.
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For many years, the security deposit (waarborgsom) was a significant and unregulated hurdle in the Dutch rental market. In the free sector, it was common practice for landlords to demand deposits equivalent to three, four, or even more months' rent. This practice created a substantial financial barrier for tenants, tying up thousands of euros and leading to frequent disputes over their return. There was no legal maximum, giving landlords leverage to demand exorbitant sums, especially from expats or those perceived as higher-risk tenants. This unregulated environment was a major point of contention and a symbol of the power imbalance in the market.
This situation changed dramatically with the introduction of the Good Landlordship Act (Wet goed verhuurderschap), which came into effect on July 1, 2023. This landmark legislation introduced a clear and legally binding cap on the amount a landlord can ask for as a security deposit, bringing much-needed regulation to the practice.
The law is simple and explicit: for all new rental agreements signed on or after July 1, 2023, the security deposit may not exceed two times the bare monthly rent (kale huur). The 'bare rent' is the basic rent for the property itself, excluding any additional costs such as service charges (servicekosten), utilities, or other fees. For example, if a property's bare rent is €1,500 and service charges are €150, the maximum legal security deposit is €3,000 (2 x €1,500). Any contractual clause in a new lease demanding a higher amount is legally void, and a tenant cannot be compelled to pay it.
The primary purpose of the cap is twofold: to improve tenant access to the rental market by lowering the upfront financial burden, and to reduce the potential for financial abuse by landlords holding unnecessarily large sums of tenants' money. The law is not just a guideline; it has serious teeth. Municipalities (gemeenten) are tasked with enforcement and have the authority to levy substantial fines on landlords who violate this rule. This new regulation represents one of the most significant pro-tenant changes in recent Dutch rental law, aimed at making the market fairer and more accessible. Tenants signing new leases should be fully aware of this right and challenge any demand that exceeds the two-month legal cap.