Legal Question about Rental Agreement in Amsterdam?

Questioner

I rent a social housing unit in Amsterdam. My 19 year old daughter is registered with me and lives here 1 out of 2 weeks. I recently understood that because she is not listed as a co-tenant on the contract, she would have to leave the house if I die or if I leave the house. Can I have her added to the lease? Can the owner refuse this? And is there a term in which she is entitled to continue renting...if she is added to the lease as a co-tenant for a year or longer? Thanks in advance.

Lawyer

Good evening, It is correct that your daughter is not a co-tenant of the rented property. You can apply for co-tenancy if you have been registered at the same address with the municipality for at least two years. If you are married or have entered into a registered partnership, your partner is automatically a co-tenant. Other housemates are not automatically co-tenants. For example, partners who live together but are not married and do not have a registered partnership. In order to become co-tenants, they must submit a request to the landlord to become co-tenants. The condition is that you have a permanent joint household. A guest, subtenant or boarding guest cannot therefore become a co-tenant. I hope this is clear to you.

Lawyer

No, your daughter cannot become a co-tenant. To become a co-tenant, a sustainable joint household is required. The existence of a sustainable joint household between parents and children is excluded because children will always leave home at some point. As a result, the joint household can never be sustainable. There are of course exceptions, but that is certainly not the case with a 19-year-old daughter. You should then think of a 45-year-old daughter who has come back to live with her parents and who has chosen to continue living with her parents and grow old together. You can of course ask the landlord to accept your daughter as a co-tenant and to add her to the lease. But the landlord may refuse this and probably will.

Questioner

Thank you for these clear answers.