“Who is aware of their rights?” Out of twelve people present not a single hand is raised. Which summarizes the problem among international students, says Jouke de Boer from ROOD and Matteo Santini, a Master student of Electrical Engineering. When this is the very group encountering a lot of problems; too high rent is among the complaints heard most. That is why they came up with the idea to organize a meeting so as to spread information about the rights of tenants in the Netherlands, and the existence of the Rent Assessment Committee: a body that intervenes in disputes between tenants and landlords.

The night is a test for a bigger meeting in September, once many new international students have started at TU/e. For this reason De Boer and Santini want to invite someone from the Rent Assessment Committee to come and explain a number of things. They hope that the students will familiarize themselves more with their rights and draw the attention of their fellow students to them as well.

Santini himself in 2009 ended up in a room of 12 square meters, for which he paid 375 euro. The landlord charged an all-in price, which is illegal under Dutch law. The Rent Assessment Committee found for Santini and imposed a substantial rent reduction. ROOD bombarded Santini’s landlord Eindhoven’s Rack-renter of the Year. (SK)

On the (Dutch-language) website of the Rent Assessment Committee you can find information about the rights of tenants and about possibilities for initiating proceedings: www.huurcommissie.nl. ROOD answers questions from international students and if necessary helps them complete procedure forms: mail to roodeindhoven@sp.nl. Cursor has devoted attention to this problem several times this year; see the search function on www.tue.nl/cursor.