What is the maximum rent increase in 2025?

Maximum rent increase rates for 2025 have been announced. Tenants in the free sector may receive a maximum 4.1 percent rent increase in 2025. In the middle rented sector, this maximum will be 7.7 percent from January 1, 2025, and in the social rented sector it will be 5.0 percent from July 1, 2025. In the free sector, the law states that rents may rise by inflation or CLA wage trends. To the lowest percentage, landlords may then add 1%; this is the maximum permitted rent increase. In the middle rental sector, the CAO wage increase is +1%. Because the CAO wage development this year was higher than inflation, landlords in the middle rental sector are allowed to charge a rent increase of a maximum of 7.7%.

Social rent

For homes with a WWS point number up to and including 143, representing a maximum rent of €900.07 per month from January 1, 2025, the following rules apply:

• July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025: The permitted rate remains at 5.8%.
• July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026: The percentage is reduced to 5%, in accordance with the agreements between housing associations and governments made at the Housing Summit on December 11, 2024.

Importantly, after applying this increase, the new rent must not exceed the maximum rent set in the WWS system. Because maximum rents will increase by 2.3% in 2025, the increase for homes already at this maximum will also be limited to 2.3%. Starting in 2026, the maximum rent increase will be linked to the three-year average of inflation, a change that has yet to be legislated.

Mid-rent

This category includes housing with a WWS point number of 144 to 186, corresponding to a monthly rent between € 900.07 and € 1,184.82 as of January 1, 2025. This regulation applies to leases concluded after June 30, 2024.

• The rent may be increased by a maximum of 7.7%, a percentage that reflects the average collective bargaining wage increase from December to November plus 1%.

Again, the new rent may not exceed the maximum level associated with the WWS point count. If the rent is already at that level, the increase is limited to 2.3%. Because the legal rules for annual rent increases in social rents do not apply to middle rents, such an increase must be contractually defined in the rental agreement.

Free sector

The following provisions apply to properties with a WWS point number of 187 and above, resulting in a rent from €1,184.82 per month as of January 1, 2025:

• The maximum permitted rent increase is 4.1%. This percentage is based on the Nijboer Act, which stipulates that the increase must be based on the lower value between inflation and the collective wage development, plus 1%. In the period from December to November, inflation (3.1%) proved to be the lowest.

As with the middle rent, the rules of social rent do not apply to the free sector. Therefore, here too a rent increase clause must be explicitly included in the rental agreement.

The maximum increase percentages in the middle rental and free sector are laid down by law in order to keep housing affordable; by linking them to collective wage development, the rent may only increase more if incomes have also increased more.

How much rent increase tenants in the middle rental and free sector will really pay depends on their rental contract. This may contain a lower rent increase. If a higher rent increase is agreed in the contract, the tenant does not have to pay it in full. The landlord may not increase the rent by more than the maximum percentage for 2025. This applies even if the landlord and tenant have agreed on a higher increase.

These new regulations require careful contractual coordination so that both tenants and landlords are aware of the new frameworks and restrictions.

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