Passing on utility and service charges as a hospita: how to do it fairly

Renting out a room in your own home sounds simple. Until the moment you sit down with a calculator and ask yourself: what exactly do I pass on to my tenant? Energy bills have been volatile in recent years, internet is not free, and your municipal taxes are not nothing either. Get it wrong and you risk being dragged before the Huurcommissie (Dutch Rent Tribunal) afterwards and having to pay money back.

Good news: it's all allowed, provided you do it fairly and transparently. In this article we explain exactly which costs you can pass on as a hospita, how to split them fairly, and what you definitely can't do under the Affordable Rent Act. We give concrete numbers and examples so you can update your contract tomorrow without hassle.

What exactly are service charges and what do they cover?

Service charges are all costs that don't fall under the bare rent but do relate to living in the home. Think gas, water, electricity, internet and the cleaning of communal areas. The law distinguishes between two categories: utilities with an individual meter (gas, electricity, water if separately metered) and other service charges (everything collective, like stairwell lighting in a communal entry).

For a hospita situation where you live together and everything runs on a collective meter, your energy costs usually fall under those "other" service charges. That means you can apply a reasonable allocation key, as long as you're transparent about how you arrive at the amount.

What you can pass on to your tenant by default:

• Gas and electricity (if you don't have a separate meter)
• Water
• Internet and any TV package
• Boiler maintenance if it serves the room or is specifically used for it
• Cleaning of shared areas if you hire someone for it
• Minor maintenance of equipment you use together

What does NOT fall under service charges and is included in the bare rent: major maintenance of the building, OZB (owner's property tax), building insurance, and municipal taxes. That's your cost as the owner.

How do you fairly split energy costs between two people?

This is where you face the first choice: do you work with a flat rate (fixed amount per month) or an allocation key based on actual consumption? Both are allowed, but each has pros and cons.

A flat rate is a fixed amount you charge per month, for example 80 euros for gas, water and electricity combined. It's predictable for both of you. The downside: if your tenant is home all day and you're at the office, it can work out unfairly. Or vice versa. A reasonable flat rate for one person in an average single-family home sits around 70 to 100 euros per month for gas and electricity combined, plus 10 to 15 euros for water. Internet sits on top of that, usually 10 to 15 euros per person depending on your subscription.

An allocation key works differently. You take the actual annual bill for energy and water, and divide it based on residents. Two people sharing all rooms? Then fifty-fifty is reasonable. Do you have a large house with lots of unheated areas, and your tenant occupies one room? Then you can choose a key based on square metres: your tenant uses, say, 25% of the heated area, so pays 25% of the heating. For electricity, a fixed 50/50 split is often more practical because it tracks square metres less strictly.

In practice, most hospitas work with a flat rate that gets settled after a yearly reckoning. You charge 90 euros per month, you track the actual costs, and at the end of the year you settle the difference. If your tenant has paid too little, they top up. If they've paid too much, you transfer money back. That's legally tidy and keeps it fair.

Which municipal taxes can you pass on?

This is where it gets stricter. Since the Affordable Rent Act (effective 1 July 2024) and its further implementation in 2026, there's less room to pass on taxes.

Waste-collection charges (afvalstoffenheffing) may in most cases NO longer be passed on to your hospita tenant. This used to be a grey area: some hospitas split the levy in half, others didn't. The legislator has closed that gap: waste charges are a tax for the resident, and in a hospita situation are typically levied on the main occupant. So if you receive the assessment and your tenant isn't separately registered, it's your cost. It doesn't go in the service charges.

For the water authority tax (the purification levy), it's slightly different. The portion called "water system levy for residents" is per person and is imposed separately on each adult resident. If your tenant is registered at your address, they often get their own assessment. If not, it's reasonable to pass on half of the resident portion as a service charge, provided you explicitly identify it.

OZB (property tax) cannot be passed on. That's an owner's tax and belongs to your role as homeowner.

A useful rule of thumb: taxes you owe yourself as the owner (OZB, building, owner's portion of sewage) don't belong in the service charges. Taxes related to occupancy (water authority resident portion) you may share, provided you do it fairly and put it in the contract.

How do you properly record service charges in the contract?

The biggest mistake hospitas make: a vague clause in the contract like "service charges 100 euros per month all-in" with no further explanation. That's exactly the kind of clause the Rent Tribunal scrutinises. If your tenant feels they're paying too much and goes to the Tribunal, you must be able to demonstrate what that amount comprises.

A good contract has three elements for service charges. First, a specification: which costs are included, and which amount applies to which item. For example: gas 40, electricity 25, water 10, internet 12, cleaning of shared areas 8 = total 95 euros. Second, the allocation key: how was that calculated? For example, 50% of the actual annual bill, or "a flat rate based on average consumption of a two-person household". Third, a settlement clause: how and when do you reconcile actual costs? The standard is yearly, within six months of the end of the calendar year.

You can put these three elements in a separate service-charges appendix, separate from the main contract text. That keeps things tidy and lets you adjust the amount yearly without re-signing the entire contract. Want to see a complete contract template? Our article on drafting a hospita contract has a worked-out version.

Can you use service charges to secretly raise the rent?

No. And this is exactly what the Rent Tribunal looks for. If you're charging 700 euros for a room that, according to the points system, may bring in at most 550 euros, you can't split 700 in two as 550 rent + 150 service charges and think the problem is solved. The Tribunal looks at what's realistic. 150 euros service charges per month for a hospita room is high, and if you can't substantiate it with actual costs, they'll strike the difference.

The rule of thumb: service charges should roughly equal what they actually cost you, plus a small margin for administration (5 to 10 euros is normal, not 50). If you have a gas and electricity bill of 1,800 euros per year for the two of you together, then 75 to 90 euros per month per person is reasonable. If you charge 150, you'll need a very good explanation.

Under the Affordable Rent Act, you're moreover required to settle service charges every year based on actual costs. Have you structurally charged more than the actual costs? Then you must repay it, even if your tenant doesn't ask. Yes, also retroactively.

How do you produce a good annual settlement for your tenant?

A neat annual settlement doesn't have to be a complicated Excel sheet. It's enough to send a brief letter or email once a year (no later than six months after 31 December) showing the actual costs of the past year, your tenant's share, what they've paid, and the difference.

An example for a hospita situation:

• Actual annual bill gas and electricity: 2,040 euros. Tenant's share (50%): 1,020 euros.
• Actual costs water: 380 euros. Tenant's share (50%): 190 euros.
• Internet: 540 euros. Tenant's share (50%): 270 euros.
• Total tenant share: 1,480 euros.
• Paid via advance (12 x 130): 1,560 euros.
• Balance: 80 euros refund.

This fits on one A4 page. Attach the annual statements from your energy supplier, water company and internet provider as evidence. Your tenant can verify it themselves, and you'll have it sorted for your records. Should they later go to the Rent Tribunal, you'll have an airtight case.

There's a nice bonus: by doing this yearly, you prevent a tenant from suddenly hitting you with a hefty claim about overpaid service charges three years later. The Affordable Rent Act gives tenants the right to claim that going back up to five years. By settling cleanly each year, you remove that risk.

What are reasonable amounts to charge upfront?

Here are guidelines for 2026, based on average rates:

• Gas and electricity combined, average home, two residents: 70 to 100 euros per person per month. If you have a poorly insulated house or a heat pump that draws a lot of power, it can rise to 110 to 130.
• Water: 8 to 15 euros per person per month. Fixed costs plus consumption.
• Internet and TV: 10 to 15 euros per person per month for an average package you share.
• Cleaning of shared areas (if you hire someone): 10 to 25 euros per person per month, depending on frequency.

Adding it up, you land at 100 to 150 euros service charges per month for a hospita room. You can add another 5 to 10 euros for administrative costs. Above that, the Rent Tribunal will look critically without good substantiation.

Remember: these are advances. At the end of the year you settle based on what it actually cost. An advance that turns out to be substantially too high, you pay back. That's not optional but mandatory.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make my tenant contribute to the boiler maintenance contract?

Yes, the annual service contract for the boiler can be passed on as a service charge, because your tenant benefits from the heating. A typical contract costs 150 to 250 euros per year; you can pass on the portion matching your allocation key. Replacement of the boiler itself does not fall under service charges, that's major maintenance and you pay it as the owner.

What if energy prices rise or fall sharply mid-year?

Then you can adjust the advance mid-year, provided you announce it and act reasonably. A decent approach: show the current consumption figures, make a new estimate of the annual costs, and adjust the advance from the next month onwards. The annual settlement will correct any differences later anyway. Don't do this more than twice a year, otherwise it becomes confusing.

Can I charge a fixed all-in amount with no settlement to avoid hassle?

Since the Affordable Rent Act, that's legally unwise. Hospitas can apply a higher degree of flat-rate billing than regular landlords, but without any substantiation or yearly check, you risk the Rent Tribunal scaling back an excessive amount. A good middle ground: call it a flat rate, but confirm in writing that you compare actual costs against the advances received each year and only refund anything if the difference exceeds 50 euros.

Can my tenant challenge the service charges separately at the Rent Tribunal?

Yes, they can, and it's a separate procedure alongside any review of the rent itself. If your tenant suspects the service charges are too high or don't match the actual costs, they can file a request within 24 months of the annual settlement. The Tribunal will then look at your substantiation. Without proper records, you'll lose. That's a good reason to keep your invoices in order.

Can I require my tenant to chip in for a Netflix subscription?

Streaming services like Netflix don't fall under the usual service charges and you can't simply require them. What is allowed: you both agree to share Netflix and they voluntarily pay half. That's a private arrangement, not a contract matter. Don't put something like that in the hospita contract, because it doesn't meet the legal definition of service charges.

List your hospita room fairly and transparently on Huismaatje

Looking to rent out your room as a hospita without Kamernet pricing or aggressive invitations? On Huismaatje you list your room for free, plan a viewing night with time slots and pick your housemate at your own pace. We also help you with a transparent rent based on the points system and a contract template including a service-charges clause. List your room →