On top of the basic rent, many tenants pay additional costs that are not covered by the basic rent. Such costs, often indicated as ‘service costs’, can include furniture, utilities like gas, water, electricity or other services. If you pay an inclusive rent, then these are arranged for you. Otherwise, you may have to make your own contracts with the service providers.
Service costs legally considered as advance payments. This means that, at the end of each calendar-year, these advance payments should be balanced with the actual costs (and provided to the tenant). Many tenants are not aware that these costs are strictly regulated and therefore get overcharged for these items.
For instance, tenants can only be charged annually a maximum of 20 percent of the purchase price of furniture. Furthermore, tenants only need to pay this amount for goods which are not older than five years. For goods older than five years, the maximum charge is 20 percent of their second-hand value.
For example: 2 students share a washing machine. The new price is € 600,00. The service costs for the washing machine arecalculated per month, per person: €600 / 60 months / 2 persons: €5,00 per month.
Once you have found the right room for you, you will eventually sign a lease contract. The lease should clearly differentiate between the basic rent (kale huur) and the service costs (service kosten). If this differentiation is not clear and one unspecified sum is mentioned, the lease is considered an “all in” contract. These contracts are not legal, and the rent can therefore be significantly lowered.
Annual nota of service costs
If you signed a contract that includes Service Costs, your landlord needs to provide an annual nota and calculation called an “eindafrekening”. They need to do this before the 1st of July of the next year. It should include an itemized list of the actual costs and the advance payments made by the tenant. Every item, like electricity, gas, furnishing, cleaning etc. must be clearly listed. Costs and payments are then balanced. Sometimes the tenant will need to pay extra but sometimes they will get money back. If the landlord and the tenant disagree about the amounts, they can present their case to the rental tribunal (Huurcommissie) or the district court (kantonrechter) at any time and the payments may be lowered if necessary.
Gas and electricity
Although it is possible to buy electricity and gas services separately from each other, most providers in the Netherlands will offer discounts if you choose the same provider for both. The infrastructure provider in Limburg for both electricity and gas is Enexis, but you are free to select the actual supplier yourself.
The selection of companies providing electricity and gas is huge, and the prices vary a lot. Before signing a gas and electricity contract, you can compare the prices of different companies based on your household size and type to best suit your needs. The website also allows you to estimate your electricity and gas use. After choosing a company, you can go to the website of the provider of your choice and make a contract.
Once you have found a supplier, they will bill you an estimate of the monthly costs. This is based on the size of your household. Once a year, you will receive an annual invoice detailing your consumption of utilities, and in the case that your consumption differs from the estimate, you will either be reimbursed or need to pay additional charges.
Water
WML (Waterleiding Maatschappij Limburg) is the water provider of Maastricht. Most households choose to pay a fixed amount every three months based on how many people live in the house and their expected water usage. To start the registration process, go to the WML webpage to become a client. Below, you will find step-by-step instructions on how to purchase water.
- Set a move-in date.
- Fill in the details.
For the first part, you must specify that you are a household. Make sure that it says “Een huishouden”. Afterwards, fill in your postcode, and if your house number has an extension such as A or B, add that as well. The rest of the details should be automatically filled in after this. Then click “Volgende” (next) and move on to the next page.
- Fill in your personal details.
The only mandatory information you need to fill in here are your initials, “Voorletters”, your last name “Achternaam”, and your e-mail address “e-mailadres”. If you’d like, you can also fill in your birth date, “Geboortedatum”, and phone number. Then click “Volgende” again.
- On the final page, you will confirm that all your information is correct.
Check that all of your information is correct, and then click the “Ik ga akkoord met de algemene voorwaarden” (I agree with the terms and conditions) and finally click “Bevestigen” (confirm) to submit your information.
- Confirmation
If your move-in date is in the future, you will receive a confirmation in the end, which states that when you move in, you will need to submit the value on the water meter so that you can be charged properly. If you have already moved in, then you will be able to submit your water meter value directly.
Each year, you will report the used water amount to the WML and receive an invoice that details the price of your consumption of water.
Internet
There are several internet providers you can choose from. The most practical way to get your internet is to sign up with one of the operator companies. Various operators work in the Netherlands, such as Odido, Ziggo and Youfone. We recommend using a price comparison website to search for the best deals. On this website, you can also compare internet and TV prices, so if you also have a TV, it may be cheaper to purchase a combined package.
BsGW
Besides the final settlements for your utilities, every household will receive a bill with the municipal tax once a year. This bill comes in form of a letter from the BsGW and tends to be shockingly high (somewhere around 700€). On a page in our finances section, you can find out how to apply for a reprieve from the BsGW bill!
