Can I sublet my room in the Netherlands?

Not without the landlord's consent. Article 7:244 BW starts from a prohibition: a tenant of living space may not give it, wholly or in part, to someone else. The one exception is for a tenant of a self-contained home who has their main residence in it: they may let part of it, unless their lease excludes that. A tenant who rents only a room has no such right.

Can I sublet my whole apartment while I am abroad?

Not on your own. The exception in article 7:244 BW covers letting part of a self-contained home you live in. Letting out the whole home is never covered, so it needs the landlord's agreement, in writing. Ask before you book the flight.

What happens if I sublet without permission?

The landlord can ask the court to end your lease. In April 2026 the court in Limburg dissolved a lease over a sublet the contract allowed only with the landlord's written consent, on condition that the tenant did not end it within two weeks (ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2026:2979). Our Dutch post on onderhuur sets out that ruling.

The landlord says no. What can I do?

For a room, nothing forces consent: without it, do not sublet. Your options are to ask again with a concrete proposal (who, how long, that you stay responsible), to ask whether the landlord accepts a replacement tenant instead, or, if the lease is in your name alone, to give notice yourself. A tenant's notice period is never longer than three months (Juridisch Loket).

Can I Sublet My Room in Utrecht? What the Law Says

Q: Does my subtenant have to register at the address?

Yes. Everyone registers where they actually live, within five days of moving in (Wet BRP, art. 2.38 and 2.39). For the Dienst Toeslagen a subtenant is neither your toeslagpartner nor your medebewoner, so a subtenant does not count as a housemate for your toeslagen. What the rent you receive from them does to your toeslagen is a separate question for the Dienst Toeslagen.

12 October 2026 · Panagiotis Pelardis

The short answer: if you rent a room, you may not sublet it without your landlord's consent. If you rent a self-contained home and live in it, the law lets you let out part of it, unless your lease says otherwise; letting out the whole home always needs the landlord. Subletting without permission can cost you your own lease.

Sources: art. 7:244 BW and art. 7:269 BW on wetten.overheid.nl, read 12 October 2026; Rechtbank Limburg, ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2026:2979, 8 April 2026; Juridisch Loket, read 11 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.

Question	Short answer	Source
I rent a room. May I sublet it?	Only with the landlord's consent	art. 7:244 BW
I rent a whole home and live in it. May I let a room in it?	Yes, unless the lease excludes it	art. 7:244 BW
May I let out the whole home while I am away?	Not without the landlord	art. 7:244 BW
What if I do it anyway?	The landlord can ask the court to end your lease	Rechtbank Limburg, 8 April 2026
Does my subtenant keep the place if my lease ends?	Only a subtenant of a self-contained home who lives there, and the landlord can still go to court within six months, on listed grounds	art. 7:269 BW

The rule, in the order the law states it

Article 7:244 of the Civil Code begins with a prohibition: a tenant of living space is not entitled to give the rented property, wholly or in part, into the use of another. Then comes the one exception: a tenant of a self-contained home who has their main residence in it is entitled to give part of it into the use of another.

Three consequences follow, and all three matter in a Utrecht house-share:

A room tenant has no right to sublet. If you rent a room in a shared house, the exception does not reach you. You need the landlord's consent.
A tenant of a whole home may let part of it, a spare room for example, without asking, unless the lease excludes it. Many leases do, so the first thing to read is your own contract's clause on onderverhuur.
The whole home is never covered. Subletting your entire flat while you spend a semester abroad needs the landlord's agreement, every time.

What it costs to do it anyway

The landlord can ask the court to end your lease. On 8 April 2026 the court in Limburg granted that over a sublet the lease allowed only with the landlord's written consent: a tenant had let his brother live in his apartment for half the rent, and the court dissolved the lease on condition that the tenant did not end the arrangement within two weeks (ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2026:2979). Our Dutch post on onderhuur van een kamer sets out that ruling and what the subtenant is left with when the main tenancy ends.

When the landlord says no

For a room, nothing in article 7:244 BW gets you past a refusal. Without consent, do not sublet. What you can do:

Ask again, with a proposal. Who moves in, for how long, that you stay the tenant and stay responsible for the rent and the room, and that your subtenant will register at the address. A landlord is likelier to say yes to a name and a date than to a stranger for an unknown time. Our own advice, not a rule.
Ask about a replacement instead of a sublet. If you are leaving for good, the cleaner route is a new tenant on a new lease, or your name off a joint lease. Whether the house may pick that person is in when a housemate leaves the joint lease.
Give notice yourself, if the lease is in your name alone. On a joint lease you cannot give notice on your own; see the post above. The Juridisch Loket says the law asks for a registered letter, and that the notice period equals the rent period, with a maximum of three months (Juridisch Loket). Check your contract first for whether you can give notice at all, as the Juridisch Loket says.
Renting from a student-housing provider or a housing corporation? Its lease is the one to read, and it is the party to ask, before anyone else.

If you do sublet, three things your subtenant needs to know

Registration. Everyone registers at the address where they actually live, within five days of moving in (Wet BRP, art. 2.38 and 2.39). That includes a subtenant. How many people can live at one address, and what the gemeente checks, is in how many people can live at one address in Utrecht.

Toeslagen. For the Dienst Toeslagen a subtenant is neither your toeslagpartner nor your medebewoner, so a subtenant does not count as a housemate for your toeslagen. What the rent you receive from them does to your toeslagen is a separate question for the Dienst Toeslagen. The three words and what they do are in does a housemate affect my toeslagen.

And their position is weaker than yours. A room subtenant's right to be there runs through you and ends when yours does; only a sublease of a self-contained home where the subtenant has their main residence is continued by the landlord under article 7:269 BW, and even then the landlord can ask the court, within six months and on listed grounds, to end it. The Dutch post above sets out the rest, including the first nine months.

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 you live, when you get up, how you feel about guests. It carries no price, no address and no availability: a profile has no field for any of them. It is free in beta. A house cannot use it to fill a free room.

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, so read every profile with the care you would give a stranger's message anywhere else.

The waitlist is at vond.house.

The short version

Room: ask, and without a yes do not sublet. Whole home you live in: a room in it is yours to let unless the lease says no; the whole home never is. The landlord can ask the court to end your lease over an unauthorised sublet, and a court in Limburg granted that in April 2026, conditionally. If the answer is no, propose a replacement or, on a lease in your own name, give notice.