Most people from abroad rent a home, accommodation or a room if they are coming to work in the Netherlands. You can choose between various forms of temporary or permanent housing in the Netherlands. Often, your employer arranges accommodation for you. This is either the employment agency or the company you are working for. Or you can arrange your own rented accommodation in the Netherlands, with the help of private organisations. If you expect to stay in the Netherlands for a longer period of time, you can for example register with a housing association. 

Pay attention! A housing association looks beforehand at whether you are eligible for rented accommodation on the basis of your income. It may take a long time before you can rent accommodation, as there is a waiting list of people who have registered. It you register with a housing association, you have to respond to the offers of vacant accommodation. The housing association will not offer the accommodation to you personally.

If you are coming to live in the Netherlands in order to work here, the first thing you must do is register in the Netherlands. If you are coming to live and work in the Netherlands for less than four months, you can read in Dutch about how to register at one of 19 Dutch government offices. You will then be regarded as a ‘niet-ingezetene’ (non-resident) of the Netherlands. If you are coming to live in the Netherlands for more than four months, then you must register at your local town hall. You will then be registered as a resident of that municipality and will be regarded as an ‘ingezetene’ (resident) of the Netherlands.

Are you coming to live here for a longer period of time?  Then it is possible to rent accommodation through a housing association. First, you need to register with the housing association. Look at the website of the municipality where you want to live. You will find a list of the housing associations in your municipality. When you have registered, you can respond to the offers of vacant accommodation. The housing association will not offer accommodation to you personally. It may take a long time before you can rent accommodation, as there is a waiting list of people who have registered. If you have questions about the rent you have to pay to the housing association, read in English who you can contact. You can contact the municipality and the Rent Tribunal in the Netherlands.

Your employer is the temporary employment agency or the company where you work. If your employer also arranges your accommodation, your employer is obliged to put down in writing the arrangements in your rental contract for the accommodation. Also, the rental contract and your employment contract should be two separate contracts. Make good arrangements together with your employer about what you have to pay in order to live in the accommodation. It is also essential that the agreements concerned include as to what happens to your living situation if you are dismissed or if your contract terminates.

Yes, your temporary employment agency (or an agricultural agency in agricultural and horticulture) is allowed to deduct the rent from your wages, if the agency lets the accommodation to you.

It is a maximum of 25% of the minimum wage applicable to you. As a result, you receive less wages, but you do not have to pay rent separately.

The aforesaid is only allowed if the accommodation has a quality mark which means that your accommodation must meet certain minimum standards. The links  SNF-keurmerk (Information for residents, in English, Polish, German, French, Spanish, Romanian and Bulgarian) and  AKF-keurmerk (in Dutch) provide more information on this topic. 

The extra costs depend on your landlord, as well as on your wishes and the agreements you make. Usually, you will not have to pay separate costs for gas, electricity and water, as they are included in the rent. You will have extra costs for the use of internet or if you want to insure special items in your accommodation (known as ‘inboedelverzekering’). If your employer is deducting the costs of your accommodation from your wages, then be aware that your accommodation must meet a number of minimum requirements. You can find more information about this on the websites of the SNF (in Dutch, English and Polish) and the AKF (in Dutch).

That depends on the type of accommodation. The Dutch Building Decree sets out requirements that have to be met, which vary according to how the accommodation is used. There is a ‘lodging function’ and a ‘residential function’. The lodging function applies to a holiday home and the residential function applies to a house in a residential area.

Discuss these requirements with your landlord or ask the municipality where you are living. The accommodation is not allowed to pose any risk to your health. The accommodation has to meet the requirements for fire safety in the Netherlands, as set by law.

Your landlord may need a landlord permit to rent the accommodation to you. If so, rules may apply when it comes to having your own lockable room. Rules may then also apply when it comes to having a facility for storing and preparing food, a laundry room and a shower room. If your landlord does not follow these rules, you can report this to the municipality in which you live. The municipality will be able to help you.

If your employer deducts your rent from your minimum wage, then there are minimum requirements that apply to your accommodation. Your accommodation must have at least 1 shower and 1 toilet per eight residents. You must also be able to use a fridge. Read about these requirements for your accommodation, which are set out in the SNF (Information for residents), in Dutch, English, Polish, German, French, Spanish, Romanian and Bulgarian.

The landlord must provide you with information about the rental fee of the accommodation in your preferred language. In addition, you must receive a copy in writing of your rental contract. This rental contract must be separate from your employment contract, and it can therefore not form part of it. As of 1 July 2023, it is a statutory obligation in the Act on Good Landlordship. If your landlord does not comply with the Act, you can anonymously report to the information desk of your municipality.

It is often the case that your employer offers you a combination of work, accommodation and transport, which we call a package deal. The offer is made by your employment agency or the company you are working for. Here, however, the employer or employment agency must offer you a rental contract that is separate from your employment contract.  If your work stops, your employer may ask you to move out of your accommodation quickly. This is not justified in all cases, not even if a four-week transitional period is offered, for example. If you are in such a situation, report it to your municipality or go to the Legal Aid and Advice Centre (Juridisch Loket) for help and information on contracts. 

If you have to move out quickly and need help urgently, then sometimes your municipality can help you find temporary accommodation. Always inform your municipality if you are asked to move out immediately. For the rental contract and the employment contract must be two separate contracts. The rental contract cannot be terminated for no reason; this depends on the type of contract. The municipality can provide you with information about this. There are also organisations that can help you find new work,  such as the organisation EURES.

You may be bothered by fire hazard, noise or smells in your accommodation. Or you may be experiencing nuisance from your neighbours.

Always report it to your landlord, which may be your employment agency, the company you are working for or a housing association. In the case of nuisance, you can also call the police. If there is an emergency situation, always call 112. That is the phone number of the Dutch emergency control centre.

If you are experiencing nuisance or undesirable behaviour from your landlord, for example discrimination or intimidation, you can also contact the municipality in which you live. The municipality can then take action against the landlord.

You can also contact the municipality if the accommodation poses a danger to your health. The accommodation has to meet the requirements for fire safety in the Netherlands, as set by law.

Do you have a conflict with your landlord? In the Netherlands, ask the Legal Aid and Advice Centre  what you can do. You can also make an appointment by calling 0800 80 20.

If your accommodation is an SNF location, there must be an information card. The information card shows you what to do in case of an emergency. The information card is written in Dutch, German or in your own language. The card must be in a central location in the accommodation, showing the telephone numbers of the property manager, the contact of the landlord, the regional police and the emergency number.

If there is no information card, call the telephone number 112 in case of an emergency. An emergency is a fire or if the police or an ambulance is needed immediately. 112 is the telephone number of the Dutch emergency control centre.

If there is anything that needs repair in the house, call the property manager of the landlord of the accommodation. If the landlord or property manager refuses to fix things, you can contact the municipality.

Each municipality has its own rules for this, so ask the municipality where you are living. They will provide the information you need.

Do you think the rent you pay is too high? Go to the Dutch website www.huurcommissie.nl (rent tribunal), where you can read what to pay as a maximum amount for rental. You can also contact the Dutch government by calling 1400 or +31 77 465 67 67.  You can only get in touch if you have a rental contract.

Each municipality has an information line where you can report matters such as undesirable behaviour on the part of a landlord, anonymously and free of charge. You can call the information line if you do not have a separate rental contract, or if you feel discriminated against or intimidated by a landlord. Do you think your house is not safe? Do you have accommodation with many people in one room or in one house? Do you have a conflict with your landlord? In the Netherlands, you can ask the Legal Aid and Advice Centre what to do. You can also make an appointment by calling 0800 80 20.

If you have any complaints about your accommodation as there are too many people living there or if it is not safe, you can also contact the Flexible Living Standards Foundation (Stichting Normering Flexwonen or SNF). However, you can only contact the Foundation if your accommodation has a special quality mark, i.e., the SNF quality mark. In that case, the accommodation has an information card showing the SNF logo and a QR code referring to the SNF website. Or alternatively, check the Information for residents | Stichting Normering Flexwonen.

The rules for that accommodation differ according to the housing situation. For example, your landlord may need a landlord permit to rent the accommodation to you. If so, rules may apply to the possibility to have your own lockable room. If your landlord does not follow these rules, you can report this to the municipality in which you live. The municipality will be able to help you. Also talk to your landlord if you think there is not enough sleeping space. Talk to your landlord about what rules apply to your accommodation. If your landlord deducts your rent from your minimum wage, then some rules will apply to the accommodation.