Pieter de Antonio Reiding is a student in Groningen and lives in a student house together with five other students. He knows multiple stories of tenants who stood up for their rights, one in particular from his girlfriend. When she contested her rental price, the door was taken out of her room. Not something you want to happen, yet Pieter did not let this story hold him back.

‘I heard about De Huurdokters because they have a cooperation with my basketball club Moestasj. In first instance I didn’t really feel for lowering my rental price because of all the nasty stories. After I’d been in contact with De Huurdokters however, I could ask them any question I wanted and they passed with flying colors. This gave me the confidence to go through.

I’m not really a social fighter,I mean, you live in a student house and you know the situation and you accept the condition the house is in. This was the first room I was offered and I trusted the lessor. Admittedly, I thought their service was good, they took care of everything for me, but then again it was my first room and I had very little comparative material. I wanted to start the procedure, simply because I like to have a little extra at the end of the month. Because of the personal contact, De Huurdokters earned my trust. During the check-up, they informed us very well and also discussed the potential risks, they covered all grounds.Eventually I felt like I was well armed with De Huurdokters. I figured that if they’d take my door out, it would just be money in the box. I’m not seventeen anymore so I’m not frightened as quickly by my landlord.
I would advise other tenants to look not just at your own housing situation, but to compare and discuss it with other people in other houses.Also look closely to the defects in your house, this often gives you a good indication of how much effort the landlord is willing to put into your situation.
Eventually I’m paying less rent. This is a nice little extra for me in the month. It’s not an amount that I’ll be putting aside, but when I think about what I’m saving every month, it’s a good sum of money.If I would have done this within the first six months of my rental period, I could have even got back the money I paid too much in the past. Too bad, this was now no longer possible for me, but it’s a good advice for other tenants. Do you live in a house for less than six months, then have your rental price checked now and don’t wait until you realize that you should have been paying less each month.’

When is the best time to have my rental price checked? We understand that the moment you finally find a room in the city you want to study, you’re probably riding a pink cloud. Checking your rental price may not be the first thing on your mind.You’re probably thankful your lessor offered you the place. Although this is all very understandable, the first six months are exactly the time for a rental check-up. No matter how thankful you are to your lessor. After a few months you realize you’re just renting a house and that you have rights as a tenant. It’s important to check your rental price within six weeks for two main reasons:

1. When we checked your price and it turns out to be too high, you can retrieve the money you paid too much over those first months.
2. Some individual houses are qualified as free market houses based on their rental price, even though according to the actual situation, they belong in the social market. In some cases, we can get these houses back in the social market where they belong, based on the legal point system. This is only possible however, in the first six months, but you will reap the benefits for as long as you stay there.