Rent reduction
Are you eligible for rent reduction?
You may be eligible for the low-income rent reduction if you are low-income, and:
- From March 1, 2023 or earlier, rent a social housing unit or a trailer from a housing association;
- you have not had a low-income rent reduction for that home or trailer in 2023; and
- pays more than €577.91 (in 2024) in bare rent per month for that house or trailer.
For leases that began after March 1, 2023, you cannot apply for a low-income rent reduction.
This low income rent reduction is separate from the other reasons to apply for rent reduction. You can find these reasons on the Rijksoverheid's page requesting rent reduction.
Ask for rent reduction if you are now on a low income
- Do you rent (as of March 1, 2023 or earlier) a social housing unit from a housing association (housing association is your landlord)? And have you not had a rent reduction to €575.03 for low incomes for that dwelling in 2023? And will you pay a higher (bare) rent than € 577.91 for that dwelling in 2024? And do you now collectively have a low income?
- Or are you (as of March 1, 2023 or earlier) renting a trailer from a housing association (housing association is your landlord)? And have you not had a rent reduction to € 575.03 for low incomes for that caravan in 2023? And are you paying a higher (bare) rent than € 577.91 for that caravan? And do you now collectively have a low income?
If so, you can request a rent reduction to €577.91 from the housing corporation yourself until December 30, 2024. You must apply for the rent reduction yourself to the housing corporation, because the housing corporation does not know that you now have a low income.
To qualify for rent reduction, you must be able to prove that your combined gross income over the last 6 months was low. The table below shows what your maximum income may have been over the last 6 months.
| Your household | income limit, your (joint) income does not exceed: |
|---|---|
| Household of 1 person, who does not receive AOW. | € 12.420 |
| Household of 1 person, receiving state pension; | € 13.215 |
| Household of 2 or more persons, all of whom do not receive AOW; | € 16.185 |
| Household of 2 or more persons, of whom at least 1 person receives AOW. | € 17.575 |
Please note that all your household members count in your household, including children. If your resident children are under the age of 27, they count in your household, but their income does not .
How do I apply for a rent reduction?
When you ask the Woonbedrijf for a rent reduction, you need to send a few things along with it:
- A statement about your household signed by you:
- total number of people;
- Number of resident children;
- ages of those children.
- Proof of gross income for the past 6 months. Of all residents except resident children up to age 27. For example:
- paychecks;
- summary of your benefits;
- A statement from an accountant (if you are self-employed without staff (zzp'er)).
Not received a proposal after your request? If so, please contact us.
Do you not have a proposal after 3 weeks and you think you are entitled to one? If so, please contact us.
Does the Woonbedrijf not respond? Or does it reject your request? Then you can go to the Rent Commission. This can be done up to 9 weeks after your request for rent reduction.
You will then resend the evidence you previously sent to your housing association.
Check the implications for your rent allowance
Report your new rent and your possibly changed income to the Benefits Agency. You can do so via the website toeslagen.nl. Woonbedrijf will also report your rent reduction to the Benefits Agency.
If your rent goes down, you will receive less rent allowance. Nevertheless, you will keep money from the rent reduction. This is because the rent allowance is reduced by a smaller amount than the amount by which the rent is reduced. You will pay less rent. If your income has also decreased, you may actually receive more rent allowance. Or you may be receiving rent subsidy for the first time. For example, because your rent is now low enough. You can make a test calculation for benefits on the website toeslagen.nl.