The house rental allowance, an income-related allowance, is a contribution to the rental costs of the Dutch government for tenants who pay a lot of rent in proportion to their income. The height of the allowance depends on your situation. The maximum you can receive is €380 a month.

In order to receive housing benefit, a number of conditions must be met:

• You are 18 years or older.
• You rent an independent living space. (For example, if you live in a room, this is usually not an independent living space).
• You are registered with the municipality at your home address.
• You have Dutch nationality or a valid residence permit.
• Your (joint) income is not too high. The rent is neither too high. And the (joint) total savings/assets is not too high.

Are you single or do you have an allowance partner?

If you are single and if you earn more than €32.500 in 2022 or if you have more than €31.747 in savings/assets, you are no longer eligible for housing benefit. You are also not allowed to have more than €63,494 in assets together. If you earn less than €18.750 and you meet all other conditions, you will receive the maximum allowance of €380 per month.

With allowance partner (toeslagpartner)

If you have a co-resident who qualifies as an “allowance partner”, you may not earn more than €40.500 together. You are also not allowed to hold more than €63,494 in savings/assets. Any other co-resident (not your allowance partner) may also not own more than €31.747 in savings/assets. You will receive a maximum joint allowance of €328 per month if you jointly earn less than €25.000.

Children living at home with income

Do you, your allowance partner or your co-resident have a child who is younger than 23? In that case, part of this child's income is not included in the calculation of your housing benefit. We call this an exemption. This exemption is automatically taken into account. The exemption for children up to the age of 22 living at home is €5.250. Student grants and loans do not count as income.

Rent allowance if you are studying

As a student, you may also be eligible for housing benefit in 2022. You must meet a few extra rules if you want to be eligible for housing benefit. You must be at least over 18 years old, and you must rent a so-called “independent living space”. You can read below what is meant by “independent living space". If you are also younger than 23, your rent may not exceed €442,46. Finally, you may not have more than €31,747 in savings/assets. If you are still a student and are older than 23 or if you have a child, different rules apply to you. In that case, the rent may not exceed €763,47.

Which room qualifies as independent living space?

The rules for the term "independent living space" have not changed before 2022. A house is eligible for housing benefit if it is an independent living space. Your home must at least have:

• your own living room and/or bedroom
• your own kitchen with sink, supply and drainage for water and a connection point for a stove
• a private toilet with flushing water

Apply for house rental allowance

You can apply for free to see how much house rental allowance you can get over this year, last year, or the year before.

- choose the year

- select "aanvragen" (apply)
- choose the date you want to apply for. If you just arrived in the Netherlands, you select the day you arrived. If you live the whole year in the Netherlands, the you choose "1 January"

- ingeschreven gemeente  "JA"