Wet goed verhuurderschap and the municipal rental permit: what contractors must know

If you house workers in the Netherlands, two pieces of regulation now sit squarely in your path: the Wet goed verhuurderschap (the Good Landlordship Act) and the municipal rental or lodging permit. Between them they decide whether your accommodation is legal, and getting either wrong can stop a project.

The Wet goed verhuurderschap, in force since 2023, sets baseline rules for anyone letting housing, with specific attention to labour migrants. It requires fair rents and deposits, clear written contracts, no discrimination, and — crucially for international crews — that key information about the tenancy is provided in a language the worker understands. Municipalities can enforce it and levy penalties, so an employer using non-compliant housing is exposed even if a third-party landlord is technically at fault.

The municipal rental or lodging permit (the verhuurvergunning or logiesvergunning) is the second layer. Many Randstad municipalities — Amsterdam and Rotterdam among the strictest — require a permit to let rooms or run lodging, tied to the property’s zoning. Operating a worker house without the right permit risks enforcement, fines and, in the worst case, an order to vacate mid-project. That is a schedule and reputation risk no contractor wants.

Alongside both sits the BRP: occupants staying beyond a short period must be registered at their address in the Basisregistratie Personen. Correct registration is not just bureaucratic tidiness — it interacts with permits, with the SNF norm, and with how the municipality views the property.

The practical implication for contractors and staffing agencies is that worker housing cannot be treated as a private-landlord problem handed to each individual. The compliance obligations increasingly attach to you, and clients and main contractors are auditing them down the supply chain. A single non-compliant house can jeopardise a framework agreement.

This is precisely why managed, compliant accommodation is worth more than the cheapest option. When we provide housing, we hold the correct permits per property, register occupants in the BRP, keep the arrangements aligned with the Wet goed verhuurderschap, and maintain the documentation so an audit passes cleanly. Compliance becomes our responsibility, not a risk sitting on your desk. You can read more on our approach on the compliance page, and about certified housing under compliant worker housing.

If you are mobilising a crew and are unsure whether your intended accommodation is permitted, the safest route is to start from housing that is already compliant. Tell us the location and headcount and we will confirm permitted availability — see labour and manpower accommodation or request a quote — so the paperwork is never the thing that delays the works.