In our practice, we have recently been confronted with an increasing number of tenants who are not getting their security deposit back from their landlords at the end of their lease. How does this work exactly?

The security deposit is intended to compensate for any damage to the rented property at the end of the lease if the tenant fails to repair it.

Pursuant to Article 7:224(2) of the Dutch Civil Code, the tenant must return the rented property in the same condition as it was accepted according to the description. The same article also states that if no description has been drawn up, the tenant is presumed, unless proven otherwise, to have received the rented property in the condition it was in at the end of the lease agreement.

It is therefore important to check whether a description of the initial situation (known as the inventory) is included in the lease agreement, otherwise the landlord cannot simply deduct the security deposit. The security deposit is often also used to settle the last month’s rent.

Furthermore, the security deposit must not be too high. The security deposit is usually equal to one month’s rent, but sometimes the landlord asks for more months’ rent as a security deposit. According to the law, the security deposit may not exceed two months’ basic rent. If the security deposit exceeds three months’ basic rent, there is a good chance that this constitutes an unreasonable advantage within the meaning of Article 7:264 of the Dutch Civil Code and that the clause is void.

No interest is payable on the security deposit, even if the parties agree to this.

The law also stipulates a period within which the landlord must repay the security deposit. This period is two weeks. Please note that this only applies to rental agreements concluded after July 1, 2024. Therefore, check the rental agreement or the general provisions accompanying the rental agreement carefully to see whether a period is specified. If not, a reasonable period for repaying the security deposit is fourteen days.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.