Residential rental price indexation clauses, analysis of judgements by the Amsterdam District Court

Publication

12-12-2023

1 minute read

In August 2023 the Amsterdam District Court handed down an eighth judgment in which the Subdistrict Court ruled that the much-applied (ROZ) rent indexation clause for liberalised rental housing (being: CPI + a maximum 5% surcharge) is unfair within the meaning of European Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts and should therefore be annulled.

The above means that in the respective rental agreement: (i) the rent reverts to the initial rent and (ii) there is no possibility of annual indexation of the rent in the future. If upheld, the impact of these rulings on the Dutch liberalised rental market will be significant. All (or at least most) of these judgments will be appealed against. In such appeal (and possibly subsequent cassation), several arguments can be put forward against the reasoning of the Subdistrict Court. In the memorandum (below) we address what we consider to be the most important arguments.