Renting Studio with Minimum rental period

Question

I am trying to rent studio in Netherlands now, and I saw in some posts that Minimum rental period 12 months, I don't know my job conditions, may be I have to change the city, How this point in contract will Obligate me to continue renting the studio and what if i want to move to another studio or apartment.

Answer 1

In the randstad (the most populous part of the country), most properties will be rented out within days of being put on the market (certainly if you are talking about small-to-medium size, affordable housing, demand for larger units is a bit weaker, which gives you some leverage). So it's basically a landlord's market, they are in a position to ask a lot (within the law).

For example, it's not untypical for a flat to have a single viewing session with many prospective tenants, each of them expected to submit an application the next day if they are interested. And this application should include some proof of your income for the last three months, a certificate from your employer, etc. The landlord or their representative won't plan around your schedule, wait for you to make a decision or gather all the papers, they will just give the flat to whoever is first and/or have several to choose from.

That's why having a short-term contract or uncertainty about the stability of your professional situation is more likely to prompt a landlord not to rent to you at all rather than convince him to be more lenient. After all, chances are that someone else with a more stable situation is also interested in renting the flat. At best, you might be able to rent it anyway, with the one-year clause very much included in the contract and an extra guarantor or a larger deposit to reassure the landlord that he will get his money if you decide to move out or become penniless before the term.

But there is no financial “penalty” for renting another flat and usually no obligation to live in the property, your main obligation is to pay the rent every month.

Answer 2

Finding a new tenant is a time-consuming procedure, with the risk of the gap where you get no money but still have costs. It's obvious the landlords are interested in finding long-term tenant rather then short-term ones. It doesn't matter for landlord that it is inconvenient for you as long as he can find other tenant that will accept long-term lease.

This marks the difference between the market of the tenant and the market of the landlord. Netherlands, as many other Western European countries, is the market of the landlord and therefore the convenience of the landlord has the higher ground.

But normally, you can end lease at any time, as long as you can find the next tenant that will accept the same agreement. For example, if your one-year rental ends in December 2016, and you find the next tenant that will accept one-year rental until July 2017, there's no need for landlord to object.

Of course, even on the landlord market not all landlords are so picky. You can search for short-term rentals or negotiate the deal, but expect to find an offer that is somehow 'worse' (either lower standard, bad location, or more expensive) than the 'regular' ones.