The owner of an apartment complex on Spaklerweg in Overamstel must pay a total of €57,937 to 48 (former) residents. The tenants sued because, in their view, they were wrongly charged for the service.
Residents pay 955 euros per month to their landlord, of which 95 euros consists of service costs and another 55 euros of so-called membership costs.
These membership costs were used to pay for tenants' various activities. “The idea is very noble, but in the Netherlands you are not allowed to include such costs in the lease,” says lawyer Jennifer Alspeier, who represented the tenants with Paula See.
Service costs are allowed to be included in the lease, but the tenant must be able to explain exactly what the costs are. Because in this case this was only done for a portion of the costs, the judge ruled that the owner must also pay a portion of the service costs.
A total of €57,937 must now be paid. This amounts to a total of €57,937, an average of around €1,200 per tenant.
The residents were all rented by The Cohesion, which rents out a total of about 212 so-called “micro-apartments” in Spaklerweg. The company also has three locations in Nieuw West. A fifth location is currently being built in Zeeburg.
The ruling could also be helpful for tenants who have not gone to court, according to Allsper. “In principle, they can go to the landlord with this judgment in their hands to demand their money back. In principle, that should be enough, but if the landlord still objects, they can always go to court.”
