Rental Contract Check in Den Haag: What to Verify

Key facts

Fact 1

As of 2026-08-11: Den Haag diplomatic clauses vary widely in drafting and are frequently asymmetric in the landlord's favour.

Fact 2

As of 2026-08-11: The statutory deposit cap is calculated on two months' bare rent, not on a bundled furnished figure.

Fact 3

As of 2026-08-11: A fixed term matching a posting still requires a valid statutory exception under the post-July 2024 default.

Diplomatic clauses and break rights tied to a posting

Den Haag contracts frequently contain a clause allowing termination if your posting ends, your assignment is relocated, or your employment with a named institution ceases — commonly called a diplomatic clause. These are widely used and can be genuinely useful, but the drafting varies enormously and the details determine whether the clause protects you or merely appears to. Check who can invoke it, on what evidence, with how much notice, and whether it operates in both directions or only for the landlord. Check also what happens to the deposit and to any advance rent when it is invoked. A clause that lets the landlord end your tenancy on short notice while requiring you to prove your circumstances at length is not a symmetric break right, however conventional the label sounds.

Furniture and service packages inside a single headline figure

A furnished Den Haag letting typically bundles the bare rent with a furniture charge, a service package, sometimes utilities, and occasionally cleaning or maintenance of the property. Presented as one monthly number, that bundle makes it impossible to establish what the underlying rent actually is — which matters because the statutory caps attach to the bare rent, and because the deposit maximum for contracts from 1 July 2023 is calculated on two months' kale huur rather than on the all-in figure. Ask for the components as separate lines. Where a furniture charge is substantial, ask what it covers and whether the inventory is listed, because an inventory schedule protects you at the end of the tenancy just as much as it justifies the charge at the start.

Fixed terms that follow a posting rather than a statutory exception

It is entirely normal in Den Haag for a tenancy to be offered for the length of an assignment, and equally normal for that offer to be framed as a fixed-term contract. Since 1 July 2024 indefinite contracts are the national default and fixed terms require a valid statutory exception, so a two-year contract shaped around a posting is not automatically valid simply because the posting is two years. Ask which exception is being relied on and where it is recorded in the agreement. This is worth doing even when the fixed term suits you, because the answer determines what happens if your posting is extended and you want to stay — a situation that arises constantly in this city and is far easier to resolve when the contractual basis was clear from the start.

Frequently asked questions

What should I check in a Den Haag diplomatic clause?

Who can invoke it, on what evidence, with how much notice, whether it works in both directions, and what happens to the deposit and any advance rent. The label is conventional; the drafting varies enormously and determines whether it actually protects you.

My Den Haag rent is quoted as one all-in furnished figure. Why does that matter?

Because the statutory caps attach to the bare rent and the deposit maximum for contracts from 1 July 2023 is two months' kale huur, not two months of the bundled total. Without separate lines you cannot establish either number.

Is a fixed term valid just because my Den Haag posting is fixed?

Not automatically. Indefinite contracts have been the default since 1 July 2024 and a fixed term needs a valid statutory exception, so ask which exception applies and where it appears in the agreement — particularly useful if your posting is later extended.

Should I get an inventory schedule for a furnished Den Haag property?

Yes, and insist on it. A listed inventory justifies the furniture charge at the start and protects you against disputed deductions at the end, which is where furnished lettings most often go wrong.