Subrenting involves tenants, as opposed to landlords, renting out their accommodation to a subtenant. In this a situation, a tenant legally takes on the position of the landlord relative to the subtenant. Many students may wish to subrent their rooms in Maastricht, for example if they are going on an exchange or internship abroad.
While this may seem like a convenient way to save yourself some money, subrenting can be difficult legal territory in the Netherlands, so you need to be quite careful. The general rule here is that subrenting is only possible with the consent of the landlord.
Some terminology clarifications:
- The person who is in charge of the property – i.e. who collects the rent, signs rental agreements, takes care of repairs, etc. – is the landlord (note that this is not necessarily the same person as the owner of the property)
- The person who signed the original rental contract with the landlord is the tenant or main tenant
- The person subrenting from the main tenant is the subtenant
subrenting from someone
independent accommodation
If you subrent the main tenant’s room, or even a room within the main tenant’s house, then this is not considered independent accommodation, and your protection as a subrenter is limited.
An accommodation is considered to be independent if it has:
- A private toilet
- A private kitchen
- A private bathroom with bath or shower
- Your own front door that you can lock. It’s important that the toilet, bathroom and kitchen are all behind this front door. Furthermore, the front door does not have to be on the street, but can be inside a house.
If the space you are subrenting qualifies as independent, then you have tenancy/rent protection. This means that the landlord cannot simply cancel your sublease, unless the main tenant did not ask for the landlord’s permission to subrent.
If the main tenant cancels their lease with the landlord, you become the new tenant, even if the landlord did not give permission to sublet the accommodation in the first place. In this case, you must send the landlord a letter informing them of your intention to remain as the new main tenant. If the landlord disagrees with keeping you as a tenant, they can follow a legal procedure to terminate your lease within six months.
non-independent accommodation
The landlord’s permission is needed in order to subrent non-independent accommodation. If the lease agreement between the landlord and main tenant terminates while you’re subrenting, you have no right to take over as the main tenant. You are therefore obliged to leave the accommodation if:
- The main tenant cancels the lease
- The main tenant dies
- The lease between the landlord and main tenant is terminated by a court (this can happen if, for example, the main tenant sublets the accommodation without the landlord’s permission)
If you end up suffering damages, such as money loss, due to subrenting non-independent accommodation from a tenant who did not obtain the landlord’s permission to do so, you might be able to claim compensation from the main tenant for your losses. This is not a simple process. Therefore, we urge you to do your research before subrenting, and ensure that subrenting is allowed under the main tenant’s rental agreement.
subrenting to someone
Whether or not it is possible to subrent your accommodation depends on your landlord. It is illegal to subrent contrary to the wishes of the landlord, who may take you to court and terminate your rental contract if you do so without permission.
If you do get permission to subrent, then what usually happens is that your subrenter will transfer the monthly rent to you, while you remain in charge of paying the rent to the landlord. It is definitely a good idea to draft a contract between you and your subrenter. There are a lot of rules and regulations for contracts, so make sure you have a contract especially for subrenting. Usually a landlord or agency should know how this contract should look. Otherwise there might be unwanted consequences for example, you need to start a procedure at court to get the subtenant out of the room.
It’s very important to keep in mind that, in the eyes of the law, you are the official tenant, and not the subrenter. This means that you will still be responsible and liable for the payment of the rent and the condition and maintenance of the accommodation.
To keep in mind when subrenting to someone:
- The main tenant is responsible for the accommodation. This means that, for example, if the subtenant stops paying rent, the main tenant will be under an obligation to pay the rent to the landlord themselves.
- The rules for the deposit stay the same in case of subletting. This means that if the subtenant has to pay a deposit, this can only be withheld to cover any damages to the accommodation.
- It will be extremely difficult for the main tenant to move back into the subrented property before the end of the contract is concluded with the subrenter. It will also be difficult to evict a subtenant that does not wish to vacate the property even after the contract has ended. Both procedures will have to be carried out through court.
- The points system for calculating rent also applies to subtenancy agreements. This means that if the main tenant charges the subtenant a rental price exceeding that prescribed by the points system, the subtenant can claim the excess rent back through the rent tribunal Huurcommissie.
