Renting out homes to migrant workers or in protected neighborhoods

• The landlord license costs €413.30 per landlord. 
• An application to change your landlord's license costs €118.03.

We will process your application once payment has been received.
Please pay using IDEAL.

The quality of life in neighborhoods is under pressure. The vulnerable position of migrant workers is also often exploited. That is why you must have a landlord's license if you want to rent to migrant workers or in one of the streets or neighborhoods Map orange on the Map .

When am I considered a landlord?

You are a landlord if you rent out a property yourself or have someone else do it for you.

• The permit is only valid if you rent out homes to tenants.
• You are not considered a landlord if you rent your property to a company that then sublets it in its own name. In that case, the company must have a license.
• If the company does not have a license, we can take action against the company and you.

You must meet the following Requirements

• You follow the 7 rules of good landlordship. 
• The rent you charge should not be too high:
  • there is a maximum rent
  • there is a maximum annual rent increase
  • You can check whether the rent is too high on the Rijksoverheid website.
• You have applied for all other permits you need. For example:
  • an environmental permit if you want to divide the property into multiple dwellings or convert it into rooms. 
• You draw up a multi-year maintenance plan and implement it.
• Please email a copy of this plan togripopwonen@heerlen.nl within 6 months of receiving the permit. 
• Your tenant must comply with the housing permit requirement. The tenant must apply for this themselves. You are obliged to actively inform your tenant of this.
• If the property is located in a designated area, there are additional requirements that you must meet. There are also additional Requirements for the tenant Requirements obtain a housing permit.

Additional obligations when renting to a migrant worker

• You must record the lease agreement separately from the employment agreement.
• You must inform the tenant in writing in a language that he/she understands.

What is important when assessing your application

• We check whether you have previously acted without or in violation of a permit that you needed;
• We use the Public Administration Probity Screening Act (Wet Bibob ) to investigate whether there is a serious risk that you will misuse the license.

7 rules of good landlordship

1. The landlord may not discriminate against the person seeking housing.
2. The landlord may not threaten or intimidate the tenant.
3. The landlord may request a maximum of two months' basic rent as a security deposit.
4. The landlord must draw up a written rental agreement.
5. The landlord must properly inform tenants about:
   • rights and obligations of the tenant regarding the property. 
   • the amount of the security deposit and when tenants get it back when the lease ends
   • contact information that the tenant can use to reach the landlord
   • information about the bad landlord hotline
   • service charges: landlords must send tenants a complete annual overview of the charges before July 1 each year
6. The landlord only charges service costs that are listed in the Civil Code ( ).
7. The rental agent may not charge the tenant any agency fees.

Amount of rent

As a landlord, you must comply with the Affordable Rent Act and municipal regulations:

• Maximum basic rent (WWS points system):

•  for independent living spaces with 186 points or less, or
•  for rooms or other non-independent living spaces.

• Maximum rent increase: you may not increase the rent more than is legally permitted.
• The municipality monitors excessive rents or increases.

The municipality will make a decision within eight weeks of receiving your application. The municipality may extend this period once by six weeks.

You can object to the decision on your application. Do this within 6 weeks. If you disagree with the decision on the objection, you can lodge an appeal with the court.