Landlords are avoiding a “points” system that should fix rents for individual rooms, according to an NOS op 3 investigation.

Its own research with around 2,000 students who filled in a questionnaire suggested that landlords often employ a “group contract” to offer a whole house to several people or filter payments through one “lead tenant”, rather than using individual contracts. This was particularly marked in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, NOS said.

The group contract construction means that rooms that are, in fact, rented individually do not fall under an official points system, and whole houses can be rented out more expensively on the “free market”. This also means that rents cannot be challenged at a housing commission.

Huurteam Nederland told NOS it has come across the problem. “Young renters call us mostly about high rental prices linked with a group contract,” Johnny Hendriks reportedly said. “They often don’t know what they are signing for.”

However, some housing lawyers advise landlords to use group contracts, claiming the points system for rooms is out of date and no longer covers mortgage and other costs.

Housing minister Hugo de Jonge has proposed to change shake up the points system for housing, bringing more rentals into a regulated “middle” segment from 2024 but also increasing rates for individual room rental by 20%, NOS reports. Parliament will decide in September if this law can proceed under the caretaker government.

Students can check points and official rent for their room on the Huurcommissie website.