What the first month really costs

The monthly rent is in the advert. The rest is not. Anyone who lands a free-sector rental easily pays three to four months' rent to various parties in the first few weeks, and that is exactly the amount people underestimate.

What it costs you

We do not quote amounts here except where the law does: they differ per property and per move. Work out your own list before you apply for anything, not after.

What is not allowed

• Key money. A payment to get the property, whatever it is called.
• Contract or administration fees for drawing up a contract the landlord had to draw up anyway.
• Agency fees when the agent works for the landlord. That is charging both sides.
• A deposit of more than two months' basic rent. Basic rent is the rent without service charges; those may not be added in to arrive at a higher figure.

More on that in What a landlord may not charge you. Your council is where you report charges like these.

Pay nothing before you have seen a contract

Transferring money to get a viewing, to “hold the property” or to move up the queue: do not do it. There is no legitimate reason to pay before there is a tenancy agreement you have been able to read. Anyone in a hurry with your money and slow with a contract is in a different line of work than letting.

Pay the deposit and the first month's rent to the party named in the contract, into an account number given in that contract or in a signed confirmation. Ask for proof of payment or a receipt, even for a bank transfer, so it is settled later what you paid and what for.

Rent benefit and allowances

There is no right to huurtoeslag, the national rent benefit, in the free sector. It exists only for rents below the benefit threshold, and that sits well under what the free sector costs. If you are moving from a regulated home to the free sector, work out what you lose in benefit. For a lot of people that is the biggest item on this list.

A moving allowance does exist, but only if you are forced to move because of renovation or demolition. The statutory minimum is set every year; the amount that applies now is published by the Huurcommissie. For a move you choose yourself there is nothing.

What you can do now

Make one row in a spreadsheet: two months' deposit, one month's rent up front, plus your own estimate for moving and fitting out. That number is the floor you need to be able to apply at all. To find out whether the rent you are about to pay is even allowed, work out the points with the rent check.