Hundreds of current and former tenants of a block of flats in Amsterdam can claim back up to five-years-worth of excess service costs following a long legal battle.

The complex in Nieuw-West, owned by CBRE and formerly run by Change=, offered what Change= called  ‘networked living’ for employed young people – studios with facilities such as a gym and fast internet.

The case centres on service charges, which cover the building management and communal areas. Service charges are paid monthly, in advance, and at the end of the year tenants either get a refund or have to pay extra if the estimates are not enough to cover the costs.

Change= used to charge tenants a separate fee for fast internet and other facilities, known as a community charge. But that was ruled illegal, leading the company to triple the basic service cost instead – from €50 a month to €166 a month at the complex in question.

But the courts ruled this too was illegal and ordered the company to pay back the access fees. Change= refused to do so and at the beginning of this year, CBRE brought in a new management company which took over on June 1.

The new managers are charging tenants lower service costs and CBRE has now reached an agreement with the tenants’ association and rights group Woon about refunds dating from the Change= period.

Tenants will be able to make a claim for the period 2019 to 2023 and some will get up to €4,000 back, Woon says. The deal covers all the tenants, not just those who made a formal protest.

The settlement does not include a separate legal battle at Change= based on the top-up fees for internet and other facilities in 2017 and 2018, Woon said.

Change= still operates a complex in Amsterdam Zuidoost which is owned by a German investment fund.