Renting a Room in the Netherlands Without a Written Contract
You live in a room, you pay every month, and nothing was ever signed. Or something was agreed, but only in a conversation or a WhatsApp message. The question you end up searching is simple: am I actually a tenant?
Yes. And if your tenancy was agreed on or after 1 July 2023, a private landlord also has to put that agreement in writing. Below is what that means, how to show that you rent, and the message you can send today.
This is general information, not legal advice. The examples are from Utrecht; the law is national.
An oral tenancy is a real tenancy
Dutch law defines a tenancy as an agreement in which the landlord gives you a space to use and you give something in return, usually a monthly amount (article 7:201 of the Civil Code). Nothing in it requires paper. The Rijksoverheid says it directly: "Mondelinge afspraken zijn ook geldig. Maar ze zijn wel moeilijker te bewijzen als dat nodig is." Oral agreements are valid too, but harder to prove when it matters.
That second half is what counts in practice. Your rights exist. The proof is yours to keep.
Your landlord still has to put it on paper
The Wet goed verhuurderschap has applied since 1 July 2023. Article 2 lid 2 lists, as a rule for private landlords and letting agents, "het schriftelijk vastleggen van de huurovereenkomst": recording the tenancy agreement in writing. It applies to tenancies agreed from 1 July 2023 (article 23 of the same act). The ministry tells tenants that even if you made oral agreements about the rent, your landlord must confirm them to you in writing.
The same article also requires written information about, among other things:
- your rights and obligations, insofar as the contract leaves them out
- the amount of the deposit, and how and when it is settled at the end
- a contact point for questions about the room
- the contact details of the gemeente's complaints point (meldpunt)
- the service costs, with a full specification every year
Four things to read carefully. The article 2 rules bind private landlords and letting agents, not housing corporations (article 1 of the act). Without a written contract your tenancy stays valid. If the landlord does not put it in writing, the gemeente can hold them to it and fine them. And for tenancies agreed before 1 July 2023 the duty to put the contract in writing does not apply; for those older tenancies the landlord had to give you the written information within a year of that date (article 23 lid 2).
Our post on the rules that already protect you covers the rest of that act.
Your tenant protection
Tenant protection does not depend on a signature, because an oral tenancy is a valid tenancy. The Rijksoverheid describes it as the landlord not being allowed to simply put you out of your home. The ministry adds that the Civil Code sets the grounds on which a landlord can give notice, and that a landlord can only end the tenancy and have the home cleared if a court decides so.
So a landlord cannot end an oral tenancy at will either: the statutory grounds apply to it too.
For rooms there are two important exceptions, and the Rijksoverheid names both:
- A room in the landlord's own home (a hospitakamer). You then have no tenant protection for the first 9 months, the landlord may end the tenancy in that period without a reason with 3 months' notice, and after that normal protection applies.
- A room rented from someone who rents the home themselves. Your contract then ends when the contract between the owner and the person you rent from ends; as a room tenant you have no subtenant protection. Our huisgenoot guide explains how subletting a room works.
How to show that you rent
Without a contract, your proof is whatever you keep. The Woonbond, the Dutch tenants' union, advises keeping the receipts for your rent payments. And under article 6:48 of the Civil Code, whoever receives a payment must in principle give a receipt for each one.
What we would add, as our own advice rather than a rule:
- Pay by bank transfer, every month with the same description, for example "huur kamer" and the month. Then every payment leaves a record without you having to ask for a receipt.
- Keep the messages in which the rent, the deposit and the start date came up. Screenshot them with the date visible.
- Write your own summary: when you moved in, what you pay, what the rent includes. Send it to the landlord, as below.
The message to send today
The simplest step is to ask the landlord, politely and in writing, to put the agreement on paper. If your tenancy was agreed on or after 1 July 2023, you could send this, in Dutch:
Hoi [naam], sinds [datum] huur ik de kamer aan [adres] voor [bedrag] per maand, inclusief [wat erin zit]. Wil je onze afspraken op papier zetten, zoals de Wet goed verhuurderschap vraagt? Ik ontvang ook graag de schriftelijke informatie over de borg, het contactpunt en het meldpunt van de gemeente. Dank je!
In English: since [date] I have rented the room at [address] for [amount] a month, including [what is included]; could you put our agreement on paper, as the Wet goed verhuurderschap requires, and send me the written information about the deposit, the contact point and the gemeente's meldpunt.
If your tenancy was agreed earlier, leave out the sentence about the law and simply ask to put the agreement on paper.
A message like this records, with a date, what you say you agreed. If the landlord does not contradict it, that helps you later.
If the landlord does not answer or refuses, you can tell the gemeente Utrecht's meldpunt that your tenancy is not on paper. The gemeente's own page says "Het huurcontract hoort op papier te staan": the contract belongs on paper. You may report anonymously. Every gemeente has such a meldpunt under the same act.
Rent, deposit and registration without a contract
Having the rent tested. The Huurcommissie says rooms always fall in the social sector, so you always have rent protection. A contract is a required document for a request, but its procedural rules say that if there is no written agreement, you can instead explain why and what was agreed orally. To have the starting rent lowered, apply within 6 months of the start of the tenancy. The section above is how you show when that was.
The deposit. For tenancies agreed from 1 July 2023 the deposit is at most 2 months of base rent, and the landlord repays it within 14 days of the end of the tenancy, or within 30 days if they deduct something. If you have already left the country, read getting your deposit back after leaving the Netherlands.
Registering at the address. The gemeente Utrecht asks for a copy of your rental contract when you report a move, or, if you live in someone else's home, permission from the owner or an adult resident of the address, given in a signed verklaring van inwoning. Without a contract that is harder. What you can do then is in registering at your room's address.
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 and has no field for price, address or availability. It is free in beta.
For rooms that come onto 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, and there is no verification badge on Vond.
The waitlist is at vond.house.
The short version
Without a written contract you are still a tenant, with tenant protection. The main exceptions for a room are the first 9 months in a room in the landlord's own home and a room you rent from someone who rents the home themselves. A private landlord has to put a tenancy agreed from 1 July 2023 in writing and give you written information on the deposit and the meldpunt, among other things. Ask for it in writing, pay by bank, keep your messages, and report it to the gemeente if nothing comes.