What may be included in your rent - Housing in Groningen (2024)

Every accommodation you rent out can have different rental specifications:

• Basic rent (in Dutch – kale huur) is the costs of your accommodation only.
• GWL / GWE(gas, water, electricity) and perhaps internet and TV are the costs for the utilities you may need to pay. Please note that in some cases your rental contract might not include these costs. In this case, you should arrange contracts with these providers by yourself. If that’s the case check our page to see how to arrange your own utilities!
• Service costs are the costs that you pay to the landlord to maintain the house, e.g. cleaning the common areas, electricity for the common areas, etc.

When you find a place to live, you have to sign a rental agreement or in other words a rental contract. You can find information about the rental contract on our page.

Also, there are some rules that you should know before signing a contract. In general, rental contracts in the Netherlands should include:

• Both you and your landlord’s name and signature;
• An agreed monthly rent and method of payment;
• An address and adescription of the place;
• Starting and ending rental dates;
• Specific house rules (pets, third party, housing, smoking policy, etc.);
• Extra costs and/or utilities (gas and electricity, water, internet, phone line, etc.);
• Landlord’s duties (maintenance, repairs,etc.);
• A notice period terminating the contact (normally 1 month);
• An inventory list (if the apartment is furnished);
• The date on which the rent will be increased each year.

Please note that an oral agreement/contract is legally valid but not widely used (mainly for security reasons). Since an oral agreement is more difficult to prove, you should take a witness with you if you want to make a verbal agreement.