We hunt. You move.

Everything you need to go from “I need a home” to “I have the keys.”

Why do most landlords allow only two registrations per home?

Registration in the Basisregistratie Personen (BRP) is tied to the address. Municipalities — Amsterdam in particular — apply housing rules that treat a home shared by more than two adults from different households as room rental (kamerverhuur), which requires a separate omzettingsvergunning. Rather than apply for that permit, most landlords cap the address at two registrations. It is a permit and policy limit, not an arbitrary landlord preference.

Do I have to register at my address?

Yes. If you live in the Netherlands for more than four months you must register with the municipality within five days of moving in. Registration produces your BSN, which you need for a bank account, salary payment, health insurance and DigiD. Never sign a lease that does not permit registration unless you already have a registered address elsewhere.

Can a landlord refuse registration?

A landlord may not simply forbid registration for a normal residential lease — you have a right to register where you actually live. In practice, however, addresses exist where registration is not possible (short-stay permits, holiday-let designations, over-occupied homes). Those homes create real problems for expats, so we exclude them from our searches.

What is the points system and the 187-point threshold?

Every Dutch home is scored under the woningwaarderingsstelsel (WWS): surface area, energy label, kitchen and bathroom quality, outdoor space, WOZ value and more. The score determines the maximum legal rent. Since the Affordable Rent Act (Wet betaalbare huur, 1 July 2024) there are three bands: social housing up to roughly 143 points, a regulated mid-market band up to roughly 186 points, and the free sector from roughly 187 points upward. The exact point boundaries and the euro amounts per point are indexed every year on 1 January.

What does that mean for my rent in practice?

If your home scores below the free-sector threshold, the rent is capped by law regardless of what the market would pay — and you can have an excessive rent lowered, retroactively in many cases. If it scores above the threshold, the rent is whatever you agreed. A liveable studio with a poor energy label often falls into the regulated band, which is why the score is worth checking before signing.