Frequently Asked Questions
Below you will find the most frequently asked questions. Do you have a question that is not listed here? Please contact our Legal Helpdesk or the Rent Support Center. They will be happy to help you.No one, including your landlord, is allowed to enter your home without permission. This also applies to the common areas! You have the right to undisturbed enjoyment of your home, which means that your privacy is also guaranteed. A landlord has just as much right to enter as any random stranger. Exception: this does not apply if they need to carry out maintenance. They must give notice when this will happen, and a tenant must give them the space to carry out the maintenance.
If the tenant terminates the lease, the only thing to consider is the notice period. This is usually one month, but it can also be longer contractually, with a maximum of three months. Once the lease has been terminated, the room must be returned to its original condition and any belongings and alterations can be sold on to the new tenant. If the room is returned in good condition, the deposit must be returned to the tenant. Remind the landlord of this if necessary. For your own security and that of the landlord, it is best to terminate your lease in writing by registered letter with return receipt. A special case is when the room is rented for a minimum period. Many people see these contracts as fixed-term contracts, but as a tenant, you are not obliged to leave the room after the contract period. The only thing to bear in mind is that you may not verplicht de kamer te verlaten na de contractduur. Het enige waarop gelet moet worden is dat je niet eerder de huur mag opzeggen dan in het contract staat, met een maximum periode van een jaar.
The landlord cannot simply terminate the lease; as a tenant, you are protected by rent control laws. Landlords often try to evict tenants unfairly, for example because they want to sell the house, but sale does not terminate lease. This means that the house can also be sold with the tenants still living there. There are only a few reasons why a landlord can terminate the lease. In addition to having only a few reasons, the landlord also has to deal with a longer notice period of three months plus an extra month for each year that the tenant has lived there, up to a maximum of six months. This means that if you are a tenant who has been living in a room for three years, you can stay for another six months if the landlord terminates the lease for a valid reason. In all cases where the landlord wants to terminate the lease and the tenant does not agree, the intervention of a judge will be necessary. The reasons for which the landlord can terminate the lease are:
- Not a good tenant. As a tenant, you have to be really bad to be considered a bad tenant. Good ways to become a bad tenant are constantly not paying your rent, destroying the property, causing nuisance, etc.
 - Urgent personal use. If the landlord urgently needs a house to live in themselves, this can be used as grounds for termination. Before a judge grants this, the landlord will have to demonstrate that they have a greater interest in the property than the tenant. If the landlord's own home has burned down, for example, this could apply.
 - Rejection of a reasonable offer. If your contract needs to be renewed (due to renovation, change in rental conditions, etc.), you can decide not to agree to this. A judge may then decide that the changes are not seriously to your disadvantage and are therefore reasonable. After weighing the interests of the tenant and the landlord, the judge may then terminate your lease. This does not apply if your landlord wants to change the rent (or make you pay more in any way) and wants to give you a new contract for that purpose; something must change in the property before your contract needs to be renewed.
 - Amendment to zoning plan. As a student, you may live above a store or even in a building that has been designated for commercial use. In this case, the use does not correspond to what the building should actually be used for, and the lease may be terminated.
 - Hospita (nine months). During the first nine months of renting a room from a hospita, the hospita may decide that you are not a good fit for the house; this is a kind of trial period. The hospita can terminate the lease during the first nine months without giving a reason. However, the same notice period applies, namely three months.
 - Campus contract. The campus contract was introduced to promote the turnover of student rooms. If you live in a room that is designated as a student room (almost all DUWO properties), your lease can be terminated if you are no longer a student.
 
Disagreements between landlords and tenants can always arise. These can concern anything from defects to intimidation. Some problems can be easily resolved between the parties, while others are much more complicated. If you feel you need more information about the problem or if the landlord is abusing their position of power, you can always contact our Rental Team. Together, we can look for a solution to your problem, but please come to us in good time so that we can still do something about the situation. For many problems, you can also contact the Rent Tribunal. For proceedings before the Rent Tribunal, it is important that letters are sent to the landlord stating the problem you are experiencing as a tenant, together with a possible solution to the problem and a deadline by which the problem must be resolved. Only after the landlord has ignored a few of these letters can the Rent Assessment Committee take action. The Rent Tribunal's ruling is binding on both parties, unless one of the parties challenges the decision in the magistrate's court. However, the court often adopts the advice of the Rent Tribunal. Something that should never be lost sight of is that, at the end of the day, you still have to be able to walk through the door together. This is meant literally if you live in a shared house, because you have to walk through the same door as your landlord, to whom you have sent all those letters of complaint and perhaps even taken to the Rent Tribunal. Even if your landlord does not live in the same house, it is advisable not to ruin the atmosphere to such an extent that you can no longer look each other in the eye. Sometimes, in the event of a serious dispute, it is better for your own peace of mind to leave your room and find a new one. If this is the case, you can negotiate with your landlord for a “moving allowance”: money you would receive if you voluntarily leave the house. Moving costs money, such as money for new wallpaper, carpeting, etc., so take this into account when determining the amount of this “moving allowance.”
Subletting is when someone is not using their room at that moment and wants to rent it out to someone else. There are many reasons why someone might not be using their own room and want to sublet it to someone else. In general, there must be a valid reason for the end date, otherwise the sublease contract will automatically be converted into a contract for an indefinite period. Legally, there are really only two possible situations:
- The lessor is renting out their room because they are temporarily moving elsewhere and want to return after that period. This happens very often with student rooms, for example during internships abroad.
 - The lessor purchases a house but does not immediately move in. Instead, they first rent it out to someone else, with the intention of moving in themselves at a later date. However, it must be demonstrable that the lessee urgently needs the house for themselves after that period.
 
The landlord can draw up such a temporary rental agreement, but a student who is going abroad for a period of time can also draw up a sublease agreement. However, they must first ask their landlord for permission to sublet their room to someone else while they are away. Subletting is permitted in the Netherlands, unless the contract states that it is not allowed, and its purpose is to make more rooms available and thus alleviate the shortage of rooms among students. Other names by which subletting is known in law are interim tenancy or diplomatic agreement. Pitfalls There are not many pitfalls for the subtenant, but there are for the tenant. The only thing the subtenant has to take care of is that they leave the room on time and leave it tidy. The tenant, however, has to pay attention to more points. First of all, the tenant must specify a fixed date in the contract by which the subtenant must vacate the room. Sometimes, a stay abroad is extended, for example, an internship followed by a vacation. If the date on which the property must be vacated is postponed, this can be dangerous. After all, the subtenant in the property can invoke rent protection: he has more or less the same rights as the tenant has with the landlord. If you then return as a tenant, you first have to get a difficult subtenant out of your home before you can move back in yourself. To prevent abuse of subletting, when the sublease is terminated, the original owner or tenant of the room must have an interest in regaining possession of their room.
If you want to sublet your room, it is advisable to discuss this with your landlord or housing association first. Sometimes the landlord can arrange the sublease for you. DUWO, for example, would like to know if you are going abroad so that they can rent out your room for you. If you sublet a room yourself, it automatically means that you will have to find another room later and that there is a deadline for this, namely the end date stated in the sublease contract. The nice thing is that you have a good base from which to search, and with a bit of luck, you may even find something in the complex where you live.
No. Students never have to pay extra for facilities that are necessary to successfully complete their studies. Once you have paid your tuition fees, you are entitled to attend classes, take exams, and access buildings and study facilities.
If a program does charge extra costs for necessary components, it must offer a free alternative. If an excursion is made compulsory, for example, a replacement assignment or internship must be offered as a free alternative. If the excursion cannot be replaced, the student may be reimbursed for travel and accommodation costs. An excursion is only considered irreplaceable if it is absolutely necessary for the student to participate in the excursion. An example of this would be an excursion to France for the Bachelor's program in French Language and Culture.
A course may require a student to purchase a book, provided that it is also available free of charge in the library. In this case, only one copy of the book needs to be available in the library.
The government determines the statutory tuition fees each year. These fees are the same for all courses. The institutional tuition fees are determined by the educational institution itself, which means that they can vary from one course to another. When do you pay statutory tuition fees and when do you pay institutional tuition fees?
You pay statutory tuition fees if you:
- Enrolled means enrolled in a publicly funded higher education program;
 - Have not obtained a comparable degree from another publicly funded institution in the Netherlands;
 - Meets the nationality requirement. This means that you:
 
- Uit 1 van de landen in de Europese Economische Ruimte (EER), Zwitserland of Suriname komt, of
 - Are you a family member of a non-Dutch EU citizen who lives in the Netherlands, or
 - Have a residence permit that entitles you to student finance
 
There are two exceptions to the second condition: ‘you have not obtained a comparable degree at another publicly funded institution in the Netherlands’. You also pay statutory tuition fees if you:
- You have already obtained a degree from a publicly funded institution in the Netherlands, but are enrolling in a program in the field of education or healthcare for the first time.
 - You started a second course during your first course and continued it without interruption.
 
Do you not meet these conditions? Then you pay institutional tuition fees. These are often higher than the statutory tuition fees. Only for joint degrees with a foreign institution may an institution charge lower tuition fees.
The above regulations apply to bachelor's degrees from universities of applied sciences, bachelor's degrees from research universities, master's degrees from universities of applied sciences, and master's degrees from research universities.
- If you decide to discontinue your studies, the first step is to deregister from the educational institution. For higher professional education or university programs, this can be done via Studielink.
 - Next, you notify DUO via their website that you are stopping. They will then stop your allowance or student finance.
 - If you have a student travel product, it must be canceled. Do this before or on the 5th working day of the first month in which you are no longer entitled to it. Otherwise, you will be fined €97 per half calendar month. The website of studentenreisproduct.nl provides a step-by-step plan for canceling your travel product.
 - To get a refund of your tuition fees, you must contact your university or university of applied sciences. This is done not through DUO, but via the educational institution itself. It is therefore sufficient to stop your student finance or allowance at not DUO.
 - If you have received a grant, you do not have to pay it back. If you are enrolled in MBO 1 or 2, your basic grant, travel product, and any additional grants are always a gift if you drop out. Are you enrolled in MBO 3 or 4, HBO, or university? Then your grant and travel product only become a gift if you obtain your diploma within 10 years. This is not the case if you drop out in the first year of your program. In that case, you may be able to make use of the so-called February 1 rule.
 
If you are still unable to resolve the issue, DUO offers a special modification assistant. Here you can fill in your situation and receive a personalized step-by-step plan for what you need to change in order to quit your studies.
The Examination Board is responsible for ensuring the quality of the examinations and diplomas. The Examination Board must independently and expertly determine that each student meets the requirements set by the program in order to obtain a diploma. In addition, the Examination Board monitors compliance with the Education and Examination Regulations (OER).
The members of the examination board are elected at the university by the faculty board and at the university of applied sciences by the executive board, unless this authority has been transferred to another body. The board must appoint the members on the basis of their expertise in the field of the relevant program or group of programs. At least one member must be affiliated with the program, and there must be at least one external member on the board.
Articles 7.11, 7.12, and 7.13 of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (WHW) specify the tasks of the Examination Board. For you as a student, it is particularly important to know that the board establishes guidelines and instructions relating to the OER, takes measures in the event of fraud, can grant exemptions for taking exams, issues the certificate together with the diploma, and decides on requests for, for example, an extra chance or the approval of your course package.
The Examination Board also decides on any objections and appeals that you, as a student, may submit against a decision that you have received. A decision is defined as: ‘a written decision by an administrative body, constituting a legal act under public law’. A decision is therefore only a decision if it has been taken by an official body of your study program. The bodies of your study program are listed in the OER. If you have received a decision and you disagree with it, you can lodge an objection within the specified period. Your objection will be forwarded to the Examination Board, which will then take a decision. This also applies to the appeal procedure. The independence and expertise of the Examination Board is clearly evident here.
The Examination Board is responsible for ensuring the quality of the examinations and diplomas. The Examination Board must independently and expertly determine that each student meets the requirements set by the program in order to obtain a diploma. In addition, the Examination Board monitors compliance with the Education and Examination Regulations (OER).
The members of the examination board are elected at the university by the faculty board and at the university of applied sciences by the executive board, unless this authority has been transferred to another body. The board must appoint the members on the basis of their expertise in the field of the relevant program or group of programs. At least one member must be affiliated with the program, and there must be at least one external member on the board.
Articles 7.11, 7.12, and 7.13 of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (WHW) specify the tasks of the Examination Board. For you as a student, it is particularly important to know that the board establishes guidelines and instructions relating to the OER, takes measures in the event of fraud, can grant exemptions for taking exams, issues the certificate together with the diploma, and decides on requests for, for example, an extra chance or the approval of your course package.
The Examination Board also decides on any objections and appeals that you, as a student, may submit against a decision that you have received. A decision is defined as: ‘a written decision by an administrative body, constituting a legal act under public law’. A decision is therefore only a decision if it has been taken by an official body of your study program. The bodies of your study program are listed in the OER. If you have received a decision and you disagree with it, you can lodge an objection within the specified period. Your objection will be forwarded to the Examination Board, which will then take a decision. This also applies to the appeal procedure. The independence and expertise of the Examination Board is clearly evident here.
There are two types of educational institutions: private (non-government-funded institutions) and regular (government-funded institutions). The rules governing the issuance of binding study advice are laid down in the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (hereinafter: WHW). Private educational institutions are not bound by these rules and are therefore free to draw up their own rules on the issuance of binding study advice.
Regular educational institutions are bound by the WHW. This law states that educational institutions may issue a binding study recommendation once. If you received a positive binding study recommendation in your first year, the educational institution cannot issue you another binding study recommendation during the rest of your studies (Art. 7:8b, paragraph 1 WHW).
A regular educational institution may also issue a deferred study recommendation in the first year of study. This means that you have not earned enough credits in your first year, but you are still allowed to proceed to the second year of study due to special circumstances. The binding study recommendation is then postponed, as it were, and the educational institution will issue you with the binding study recommendation at the end of the second year. This is not the same as issuing a binding study recommendation twice and is therefore not in violation of the WHW.
OER is an abbreviation for Onderwijs- en Examenreglement (Education and Examination Regulations). These OER have a legal basis, which means that the law stipulates that every institution of higher professional education and academic education is obliged to draw up Education and Examination Regulations. This obligation arises from Article 7.13 of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (WHW). Pursuant to this article, the board of the educational institution must draw up OER for each program or group of programs. These OER must contain adequate and clear information about the program/group of programs. This information concerns the applicable procedures, rights, and obligations with regard to education and examinations. Although the institution's board enjoys some freedom in this regard, the law stipulates that the following matters must in any case be included in the OER;
- The structure of the program in terms of exams, teaching methods, and specializations
 - The quality of knowledge that the student must have acquired by the end of the program
 - The possible organization of practical exercises
 - The study load, divided across the various educational units
 - What the rules regarding the binding study advice (BSA) are
 - The study load for a master's program
 - Number of exams for a course
 - The determination that a program is full-time, part-time, or dual
 - The validity period of a successfully completed exam; validity may be extended by the examination board; a change in study program cannot shorten the validity period.
 - The manner in which exams are taken, whether written or oral, the examination board has the authority to decide otherwise in special cases.
 - The way in which students with disabilities or chronic illnesses are given the opportunity to take exams
 - The openness of oral examinations; the examination board may deviate from this in special cases.
 - The period within which the results of an examination are announced, together with the authority of the Examination Board to deviate from this or not.
 - How students can view their conducted exams
 - The way exams are graded
 - The way in which exemptions can be granted because subjects have already been passed
 - The requirement that certain exams must be passed in order to be allowed to take other exams
 - The obligation to participate in practical exercises in order to be admitted to an exam; the examination board may deviate from this, possibly imposing alternative requirements.
 - Monitoring study progress and providing individual study guidance
 
In addition to these matters, the institution's board may have arranged other matters in the OER. If the examination board has made a decision and you disagree with it, it is advisable to consult the OER for your program to check on what authority the examination board, or possibly another body within your educational institution, made the decision. If this authority is lacking, you may be in a stronger position in any proceedings if you disagree with a decision.
