Rent tribunial case discussion
Hello, I made a post earlier while panicking, but now i have gathered my thoughts and i have plenty of questions, please bare with me and give me advice on what to do.
General information:
I moved to my place in November 2022, and have been living there in ever since.
I pay an advance of 150 per month for utilities and 100 euros for "services" (taxes and fees)
I rent an apartment inside a shared unit. I have a housemate that lives downstairs, we have the same supply for water/gas/electricity and there is no way to determine who consumed how much.
Each apartment is around 30 m2, the one downstairs is a studio while mine is a one bedroom thus tiny rooms.
When i moved in and up till December 2025, i didn't have access to gas heating, the radiators were physically available but i couldn't turn them on, the landlord gave me an action electric heater which i used for heat (i was desperate to find a place to stay and didn't have a budget to search)
Rent tribunal case:
I have never received an annual statement regarding how much i consumed, and after countless requests to my landlord where she refused to comply, i opened a case against my landlord with Huurcommitie for the service costs for 2023 and for 2024.
I decided to check what the landlord has provided to prepare for my situation and i was shocked by multiple things:
The Gas bill was insane: between 11/11/2022 and 23/05/2023 gas for the apartment ( two units) was ~3000 euros. and the claimed gas consumption was 1.276 m³.
The landlord is trying to pad the service bill by adding "upholstry", "service costs" and "administration fees": there is no signed upholstry handling, i bought my own furniture, the contract doesnt mention anything except for a sound proof wall. There is no services provided by the landlord, and i dont know what administration fees she is trying to claim. ( total padding 56 euros per month).
The landlord is trying to claim VVE and split it between me, her and my housemate, the only document she provided is VVE fees for apartments 31-233 which is around 85k. Based on her math, there are only 45 apartments in this range, however the document doesn't provide any details on the split and number of apartments. I know that i will be charged only for cleaning fees, utilities, and daily maintenance, but since i don't know the split, i don't know how much i owe (her claim 51,77 per month).
Questions:
Can she lay claim for 2022 if i didn't open a case for that year?
Given that she provided a document from the Gas and electrical provider, we can assume that she didn't fake the document, but genuinely speaking, aren't these numbers insane ( 1.276 m³) given that i didn't have access to gas heating, and my housemate was not home for a good chunk of time?
Given that i didn't have access to gas heating, i don't believe it is fair for me to cover my old housemate expenses, unfortunetly i don't have a written proof for the lack of gas supply for heating and i doubt my landlord will admit to it. But can i do anything about this? like inform HC that i didn't have access to gas heating and fight those claims?
Regarding the "services": upholstery, services, VVE, should i create a document for HC on those fees or leave it for them to handle them?
Your advice is highly appreciated, and sorry for the long post.