Rent price increase rental contract: advice for legal aid seekers

Questioner

Dear Madam/Sir, We have a difference of opinion with the landlord of our private sector home about the rent adjustment from 1 July 2017. My rental agreement states: 'New rent = current rent multiplied by the consumer price index for low-income employee families (CPI level 1995 = 100) for the calendar year preceding the rent change, divided by the consumer price index for low-income employee families (CPI level 1995 = 100) for the calendar year preceding the effective date of the current rent, provided that the rent increase will not be lower than the percentage permitted by the government and that the rent will never be lower than the latter rent.' In my case I think it may be 0.3% based on the years 2016 and 2015. The landlord wants an increase of 1.5%, stating that he is allowed to go higher than the inflation figure resulting from the formula because of 'the percentage permitted by the government'. I don't think the government has set a 'government-permitted percentage' for private sector homes. I did find a similar case, where the landlord was proven right with a higher rent increase: http://www.uitspraken.nl/uitspraak/recht-gelderland/civiel-recht/civiel-recht-overig/eerste-aanleg-enkelvoud/ecli-nl-rbgel-2015-1126 On this website https://www.huurgeschil.nl/index.php?page=periodiekehuurgroei.php under the head 'Lease agreement does not contain a specific increase clause; are announced rent increases still feasible? ' this ruling is discussed and errors in the decision are pointed out. How high may the rent increase be according to the contract?

Lawyer

The maximum rent increase applies to so-called non-liberalised rental properties. A rental property falls into this category if the rent according to the points system is lower than 647.53 euros (liberalisation threshold since 1 July 2009). This concerns the rent on the start date of the contract and excluding service costs. The liberalisation threshold will only be increased as of 1 January 2011. In addition, the maximum rent standard applies to liberalised rental properties of housing corporations. This is the percentage by which the average rent (liberalised and non-liberalised) calculated over all properties of the corporation may increase as of 1 July 2010. For private sector homes, the points system does not apply and there are no maximum rents. The landlord can determine the rent himself. 'Liberalised' therefore means that there are far fewer rules for the rent of the home. In your case, you can object to the rent increase if: - the percentage of the rent increase is higher than 1.2%; - the rent price exceeds the maximum rent price due to the rent increase; - the rent increase has not been announced correctly or contains errors; - the rent has been temporarily reduced by the Rent Assessment Committee because there are serious maintenance defects that have not yet been remedied; - the price is all-inclusive. You can also check the maximum rent yourself, but then you need to know the number of points of the living space. You can request this from the landlord or calculate it yourself. You can use a form for this that you can download from the VROM website.

Questioner

Thank you very much for your response, but the answer seems like a cut and paste job and given the years I don't think it is relevant to our situation.