Welcome back to the world of the private rental market. Today, we take you to Tilburg and tell you the story of Jos, a smart but unfair landlord.

Extensive Real Estate Portfolio

Jos (57), an energetic man from North Brabant, is not only the proud owner of various popular cafés, but he also has an extensive real estate portfolio to his name. The extra income he earns during the bustling carnival season is invested in expanding his real estate portfolio. Some of his properties are rented out through his own real estate company, others directly by himself. His tenants are usually starters with a modest income or expats who don’t yet know the ins and outs of Dutch rental law.

Illegal all-in rental prices

But here’s the rub: Jos rents out the homes at illegal all-in rental prices. Instead of separating the costs into basic rent and service costs, as the law prescribes, he bundles these into one amount. For a room of 15 m², he asks an average of € 450 and for an independent home of 50 m², an average of € 1,100. The problem is that all-in prices are not transparent. Tenants cannot see how much they pay for the basic rent and how much for the service costs. As a result, they can unknowingly pay too much.

With an all-in rent, the price is divided, where 55% of the price is the basic rent and 25% the service costs. So, an all-in rent always results in a rent reduction to 80%. As a result, tenants of the rooms pay at least € 90 too much per month (20% of € 450), and the tenants of the independent homes pay at least € 220 too much (20% of € 1,100).

A staggering story

Jos rents out about 50 rooms and at least 20 independent homes. If we multiply these numbers by the amounts the tenants pay too much, we get a shocking total. For the rooms, Jos collects € 90 x 50 = € 4,500 too much per month, and for the independent homes, he gets € 220 x 20 = € 4,400 too much. Add up these amounts, and it turns out that Jos takes in as much as € 8,900 per month too much in rent!

At Bumarang, we aim to help tenants understand their rights and what a fair rent entails. If you are unsure whether you are paying a reasonable price, please contact us. We are ready to assist you.