Temporary lease of residential accommodation gets complicated again

Probably as of 1 July 2024, terminating temporary lease of residential accommodation will become more difficult for landlords. However, there are some exceptions. What are the new rules for temporary letting of residential accommodation?

No longer separate rules for temporary letting of residential accommodation

The Senate has passed the Fixed Lease Contracts Act. Its effective date is not yet known but will probably be 1 July 2024. The Act will then apply immediately to new leases. Existing temporary leases will remain valid.

The new law – effectively restoring the situation before 1 July 2016 – is expected to give tenants more permanence again. In fact, temporary leases have not shown to improve the position of tenants by increasing the transition in the rental market. Instead, tenants’ uncertainty has increased, as they often have to look for a new home after only two years in an overstrained housing market.

With the Fixed Lease Contracts Act, the same rules as for termination of indefinite leases will again apply to the termination of temporary leases of residential accommodation. This means that the lease will no longer end on the agreed end date, but that termination of the lease will only be possible in a limited number of cases. As a result, concluding a temporary lease has no longer added value.

Terminating lease of residential accommodation

The landlord can terminate the letting of residential accommodation only if the tenant agrees. If the tenant does not agree, the landlord must go to court. The court will only grant a claim to terminate the lease if one of the following grounds for termination applies:

1. The tenant did not behave as a good tenant.
2. The landlord has temporarily let the accommodation and the tenant wants to return to the property under the diplomat clause.
3. The landlord urgently needs the accommodation for their own use. This includes renovation or demolition of the property, but explicitly not selling the property. Termination because the tenant no longer satisfies the condition for a target group contract is also included. However, the condition is that the tenant must be able to find other suitable housing. The landlord must be able to prove that this is the case.
4. The tenant refuses the offer of a new lease agreement for the same residential accommodation.
5. According to the zoning plan, the residential property is not zoned as “residential” and the landlord wants to change the use of the property to meet the zoning plan’s destination.
6. The landlord lets non-self-contained residential accommodation and has more interest in terminating this lease than the tenant has in continuing the lease.
7. The residential property is a flex home and the environmental permit allowing the space to be used for living expires.
8. Children whose parents are both deceased may take over the parents’ lease if they are at least 16 years old but not yet 28 years old. At the time the oldest child turns 28, the landlord may terminate the lease for that reason, provided that other suitable residential accommodation is available.

Exceptions

Temporary rentals ending after a period of two years or less will remain possible with some specific target groups. According to a proposed scheme, these will be:

1. Students form another municipality or from abroad
2. Tenants who have to live elsewhere temporarily due to urgent works or renovation of their home (temporary home exchange)
3. House seekers with a declaration of urgency
4. Tenants renting on the basis of a second-chance lease agreement
5. Orphans or relatives who cannot permanently take over the lease agreement of the deceased tenant
6. Divorced parents
7. Tenants temporarily working on the Wadden Islands and renting accommodation there
8. Permit holders (status holders) coming directly from a Central Agency for the Perception of Asylum Seekers location and waiting for permanent housing

Letting against vacancy

Temporary rental of vacant properties (anti-squatting) or properties for sale will also remain possible. From 1 July 2024, the court may also terminate the lease if it concerns a private landlord who has rented out his own home and wants to sell it. This particularly concerns the situation of people who are moving in together for the first time and still wish to keep their old home in reserve. A condition is that this ground for termination is included in the lease and that the lease has not lasted more than two years (cohabitation clause).

Contracts for target groups

For migrant workers, the government is working on a contract for target groups. In case of a contract for a target group, the landlord can also terminate the lease for urgent own use if the tenant no longer meets the conditions. For example, with a youth contract, this is the case if the tenant is 28 years or older when the lease expires. Also in the case of leasing to students, the possibility of terminating the lease remains if the tenant is no longer enrolled in an educational institution.

Real estate and rent lawyers

Do you have any questions about the new legislation? Would you like to know what the options are for temporary leases? Or would you like us to draw up a lease for you? We will also be happy to assist you in disputes about lease termination, real estate and other tenancy issues. Please contact us: