In the Netherlands, self-contained rental housing (apartments/houses, not rooms) is subject to a points-based valuation system known as the Woningwaarderingsstelsel (WWS).
This system assigns “points” to a rental property based on list of characteristics:
The total number of points determines two key things:
The Dutch law called the Affordable Rent Act came into force on 1 July 2024, increased the number of points required for a property to qualify for free sector.
Before this law, any property that had reached 143 points- it qualified for the free sector, meaning the rent would not be capped, the landlord was free to decide how much to charge. After this law, only properties that have minimum 187 points qualify for free sector.
So that’s 30% higher threshold.
Since 2024 these are the rent caps:
This means that thousands of properties suddenly entered the ‘regulated market’ - so called middle segment. This mostly included small-sized properties, and properties with low-energy label. The landlords are now allowed to charge a maximum of €1157 (plus sometimes added cost for furnishing, parking, service costs and etc). Often in your contract you will see a cost breakdown, where €1157 is the base rent, and some extra services are added on top.
While this move aimed to secure affordable options, many landlords responded by withdrawing rentals from the mid-market category, as rents were often capped below what landlords felt necessary to cover costs.
As a result the supply of mid-market rentals overall dropped.
Free-sector properties are now facing a huge demand.