Housemates and Bijstand: How the Kostendelersnorm Works
The short answer: if you get bijstand, the Dutch social assistance benefit, and you move in with other adults, your gemeente can lower it under the kostendelersnorm, because you can share the costs of living. Housemates under 27 do not count, and neither do several other groups, among them students who can get study finance. Your housemates' own income and savings do not count either. Ask your gemeente before you sign.
Sources: Rijksoverheid, wat is de kostendelersnorm in de bijstand and Juridisch Loket, hoeveel bijstand krijg ik als ik samenwoon. Both read 20 October 2026. This post is about bijstand only; we did not read the rules for other benefits. General information, not legal advice.
| Question | Short answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Do housemates lower my bijstand? | They can; more adults aged 27 or older in the home means a lower benefit | Rijksoverheid |
| Whose income counts? | Not your housemates'. A partner's or joint household's does | Rijksoverheid, Juridisch Loket |
| Who does not count as a housemate here? | People under 27, students who can get study finance, BBL students, some commercial tenants | Rijksoverheid |
| I rent a room: does it change? | Usually not, with exceptions for a very low rent or a close-relative landlord | Juridisch Loket |
| Where do I ask? | Your gemeente, or the Juridisch Loket | Rijksoverheid |
What the kostendelersnorm is
The Rijksoverheid puts the reason plainly: you have lower housing costs when more people live in the home, because you can share them. So the more adults of 27 or older live there, the lower the benefit. The Rijksoverheid gives this table of the standard rate per person, as a share of the bijstandsnorm:
| Adults aged 27 or older in the home | Rate per person | Total if all of them get bijstand |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70% | 70% |
| 2 | 50% | 100% |
| 3 | 43.33% | 130% |
| 4 | 40% | 160% |
| 5 | 38% | 190% |
The page adds that the rule also applies to households of more than five.
Who does not count
Not every housemate is a kostendeler. The Rijksoverheid lists these exceptions:
- young people under 27;
- the person you run a joint household with, if nobody else lives in the home;
- a commercial tenant, subtenant or boarder, or the landlord, subletter or host living in the same home;
- room tenants with a commercial contract who pay a commercial rent;
- students in a programme that can give study finance or a contribution to study costs;
- students in a Beroeps Begeleidende Leerweg (BBL) programme.
The Juridisch Loket gives a shorter list for the housemate. They are no kostendeler when they are under 27, study and receive study finance, follow a BBL programme, or have a lease of their own and pay rent. The two pages word the room-tenant exception differently, so if your case sits near that line, ask your gemeente rather than picking the more favourable wording.
What does not count: your housemates' money
Both pages are clear on this. Under the kostendelersnorm, your housemates' income and assets are left out of your right to bijstand. A partner, or someone you run a joint household with, is another matter: their income and assets do count. The Juridisch Loket adds that you can have a joint household with only one person.
If you rent a room
The Juridisch Loket says that usually your bijstand does not change when you rent a room. In more detail:
- Sharing the home with other tenants who have their own contract: your bijstand stays the same, although it can go down if your rent is very low.
- Sharing with students: it stays the same, whatever their contract and whatever rent you pay.
- Renting a room in your landlord's own home: the landlord is then your hospita. Your bijstand goes down only if the hospita is a close relative, such as a parent, aunt or brother, or if your rent is very low.
If your housemate is the one on bijstand
Our reading, from their side of the rule: if you are 27 or older and are not one of the exceptions above, you can count as one more adult in their home, and that can lower their benefit. We found no page that tells a new housemate what to report or when, so the safest step is that your housemate asks their gemeente before you sign.
Before you move in together
- Ask the gemeente that pays the benefit. Both pages send you there for questions about your own situation. The Rijksoverheid also names the sociaal raadslieden of your gemeente, and the Juridisch Loket for free legal advice.
- Say so in the conversation before the lease, not after. Our own advice: a housemate on bijstand is a fact the other housemates need before they commit.
- Check who is registered where. Where you are registered is a separate question; see how many people can live at one address and registering at a friend's address.
- Remember it is one benefit among several. Rent allowance and other benefits work on their own rules; our post on housemates and toeslagen covers the Belastingdienst side.
Where Vond fits
We start with Roommates. Vond opens soon in Utrecht, and the first thing that opens is a way to find people to live with. A Roommates profile describes a person: how they live, when they get up, how they feel about guests. It has no field for rent, address or availability. It is free in beta. Join the waitlist for Roommates.
For rooms that appear on Vond, we speak to whoever is letting the place and build the listing with them. We do not verify identity, we do not check a register on your behalf, and there is no verification badge on Vond. A profile here deserves the same care as one anywhere else.
The short version
The kostendelersnorm counts adults of 27 or older who live with you, minus a list of exceptions, and ignores their income. If you get bijstand, ask your gemeente before you choose a house, and before you move in with someone who does.