A tenancy agreement has legal status. When Stadswonen and a prospective tenant enter into a tenancy agreement, they basically commit to a number of mutual rights and obligations. These rights and obligations are not only listed on the tenancy agreement itself, but also on a number of supplementary documents.

When you sign the tenancy agreement, you also declare yourself in agreement with the General Tenancy Terms and Conditions and (where applicable) the Residential Management Regulations. These documents establish how we are expected to treat one another.

Campus contract 

A campus contract is a tenancy agreement for housing that is exclusively intended for students. This contract states that you can only live in the accommodation if you are a student and are still studying. After completing or ending your studies, you have to move out within six months.

Enforcement of the student tenancy agreement

When you enter into a student tenancy agreement with Stadswonen Rotterdam, you give Stadswonen permission to check whether you are in fact enrolled as a student. This check can be done in two different ways:

• We contact the stated educational institution to confirm that you are indeed (still) studying there.
• We require you to prove that you are (still) studying at the stated educational institution.

Are you no longer registered as a student or have you failed to reply to our request for confirmation of your student status? Then we will write you to inform you of the start of your six-month moving period. The idea is for you to find a different unit within this period.

Of course, we’re happy to offer you an alternative. As a Stadswonen tenant, when you finish your studies, you can move to a new accommodation that is in line with – and often more suited to – your new situation as a recent graduate. This is possible when you are aged between 23 and 27, and have income from work.

Are you older than 27? Then there are other ways to find accommodation in Rotterdam. 

Rooms

It’s not common for two or more rooms in a residential building or on a floor to become available at precisely the same time. The best chance for you and your friend or partner to live together in the same building or on the same floor is when one of you is already a resident. The next time a room becomes available in the building, the existing resident opts for selection by ballot (called hospiteren in Dutch). His or her friend is then free to respond to the advertised room. If the candidate is high enough on the list, the existing resident is allowed to choose this candidate as his or her new housemate. Of course, in cases where multiple housemates are involved, the decision will naturally need to be taken in consultation. Please keep in mind that the person responding to the advert has to have a high enough spot on the waiting list to be eligible as a candidate.

Studios

The maximum occupancy for a studio unit is one person. In other words, you are not allowed to live together with someone else in a studio.

Flats

You are allowed to live together in one of our flats. This is based on the assumption that you will be living together with your partner. If you prefer to live together with a friend or family member rather than a partner, please keep in mind that some flats are more suited to this kind of arrangement than others. This information is included in the details on flats that are listed as available on our website.

To qualify for a post-study apartment, one of you must already be renting from us. If you want to live together in a student apartment, one of you must be registered with us as an accommodation seeker. You can ask to arrange cohabitation with a partner via the Stadswonen Portal.

Be aware: Cohabiting can have consequences for any rent subsidy or other allowances you receive. More information about this can be found on the tax office website.

Our units are not suitable for keeping pets. Would you like to keep a pet nevertheless? In that case please check the applicable rules in advance. You are only allowed to keep pets that do not cause any kind of nuisance for your housemates and neighbours. Are you renting a room? In that case you will need written permission from Stadswonen Rotterdam to keep a pet. You can apply for permission via e-mail. Is your residential building supervised within a management structure? In that case you will be required to submit your request to the residents’ committee.

Would you like to throw a party? Sure! But be sure to make clear agreements in advance. And you need to take care that you and your guests don’t create a nuisance for the other residents. Please inform your neighbours – and the residential manager, where applicable – beforehand that you’re planning to have a get-together. Some residential buildings have a rec room that you could consider using for your party. Ask the residents’ committee of your building about your options.

Are you going to do an internship or temporarily study in a different place (either in the Netherlands or another country)? You can, under certain conditions, rent your room to someone else. This is only allowed if your reason for subletting is related to your study and you meet the specified conditions for subletting. Taking a holiday or sabbatical are not permissible reasons. You are not allowed to just rent your room out as you feel like it without good reason, either directly or via platforms such as Airbnb.

To sublet your room you must get permission from us. This can be requested via Stadswonen Portal.

In residential buildings with a management structure, the tenants themselves get to co-determine Stadswonen Rotterdam’s policies within, and management of, their building. Whether or not a building has such a management structure can be checked in our overview of residential buildings. The management structure is set down in our Residential Management Regulations. Where applicable, these regulations are also included in the documents accompanying your tenancy agreement.

Influence at three levels

1. Individual tenants
   At the individual level, you are free as a tenant to maintain and improve your personal residential environment. You can present your perspectives on building-related matters to the general residents’ meeting or the residents’ committee, and in the event of a dispute, contact the arbitration board. You co-determine who is appointed to the residents’ and auditing committees and can furthermore stand as a candidate yourself.
   
   
2. Residents’ committee
   The residents’ committee represents all tenants in a specific residential building. The Chair of the residents’ committee also serves as the building’s residential manager. The residential manager forms the key link between the tenants and Stadswonen Rotterdam in a number of contexts. Within the building, the residents’ committee supervises whether tenants comply with the general regulations and house rules. According to the Tenants and Landlords (Consultation) Act (‘Wet op het Overleg Huurder-Verhuurder’, WoHV), the residents’ committee serves as Stadswonen Rotterdam’s official interlocutors on building-related matters.
   
   
3. Stichting Huurderbelang Stadswonen (SHS)
   According to the Tenants and Landlords (Consultation) Act (‘Wet op het Overleg Huurder-Verhuurder’, WoHV), Huurdersbelang Stadswonen is Stadswonen Rotterdam’s official interlocutor on general tenancy-related matters. SHS is the highest-level representative body for tenants in Rotterdam. Please visit the SHS website for further information.

Residents’ committee

The residents’ committee represents the tenants of your residential building. The committee is made up of a minimum of four and a maximum of eight tenants. The residents’ committee convenes at least eight times a year to discuss the state of affairs in the following focus areas:

1. Nomination of new tenants;
2. Review of current service charges and the state of the different funds;
3. The organisation of walk-in consultations, handling and settlement of social issues in the building, maintenance and repair requests and other questions;
4. Monitoring and maintaining a positive residential and study environment. In other words: the residential building needs to be kept clean, in proper order and safe.

During the meeting of the residents’ committee, the committee executive also accounts for its activities and decisions in the most recent period.

General residents’ meeting

The residents’ committee is also responsible for organising the general residents’ meeting. During this meeting, residents discuss any matters deemed pertinent to the social and residential environment in and around the building. All tenants are allowed to contribute to this general meeting. There are a number of agreements in this context:

• The general residents’ meeting needs to be organised at least once a year. The meeting is organised more often if at least 10% of the tenants submit a request to this end.
• The general residents’ meeting is chaired by the residential manager. The members of the residents’ committee are excluded from any votes held during the general residents’ meeting.
• During the general residents’ meeting, the tenants elect the members of the auditing committee from their midst.
• The residents’ committee is expected to distribute the minutes to this general residents’ meeting no later than 14 days after the meeting was held.

Auditing committee

The auditing committee is responsible for checking the financial policy of the residents’ committee in the current financial year. The auditing committee is made up of a minimum of two and a maximum of four members. The members of the auditing committee are not allowed to simultaneously serve on the residents’ committee.

Daily executive

The daily executive is responsible for carrying out all day-to-day activities associated with the four focus areas of the residents’ committee. The daily executive consists of a residential manager, a treasurer and possibly a deputy residential manager.

Lodging a complaint regarding the residents’ committee

Do you have a complaint regarding an action or decision by the residents’ committee? In that case please first discuss your complaint during the walk-in consultation. If you are dissatisfied with the results of this consultation, you can submit a written complaint to the residents’ committee (via e-mail or letter). The committee is obliged to review this complaint during its next meeting and report back to you in writing on the results of this review. If you are still dissatisfied after this review of your complaint, you may lodge an appeal within two weeks of receiving the committee’s report. If the residents’ committee sticks to its previously formulated decision, you are allowed to appeal this position within 14 days at the Complaints and Arbitration Board.

Complaints and Arbitration Board

You can contact this board if you have a complaint about an action – or lack of action – on the part of your residents’ committee. To lodge your complaint, please report the dispute (accompanied by a full set of documentation/correspondence) to:

The Secretary of the Complaints and Arbitration Board
PO Box 4057
3006 AB Rotterdam
The Netherlands

Stichting Huurdersbelang Stadswonen (SHS) is an umbrella organisation that represents the interests of all Stadswonen Rotterdam tenants. For most questions, complaints or ideas, as an individual tenant the people you need to get in touch with are either the residents’ committee of your residential building or the staff of Stadswonen Rotterdam. SHS primarily concerns itself with issues that involve groups of tenants rather than individuals.

If you are not happy about the way Stadswonen Rotterdam or your residents' committee has handled something, or feel something is amiss, you can file a complaint. See how this works.