Anti Kraak in the Netherlands 2026: Your Rights, Notice and Fees

Under article 7A:1777 of the Civil Code, anti kraak usually runs on bruikleen: one party gives another a thing to use free of charge and gets it back after the use or a set time.

Owners hire a leegstandbeheerder (vacancy manager) to place residents in buildings waiting for sale, renovation or demolition. Instead of a rental contract, you sign a bruikleen contract. The Civil Code describes bruikleen as giving someone a thing “om niet ten gebruike”, which means for use free of charge, on condition that it is returned afterwards (article 7A:1777 BW).

A tenancy is different. Huur (tenancy) is a contract where the landlord agrees to give you the use of a property and you agree to a counter-performance (article 7:201 BW). That one word, tegenprestatie (counter-performance), decides almost everything below.

The government knows the sector runs outside tenancy law. In an answer to MPs received on 11 December 2019, the Minister for the Environment and Housing said anti kraak can give people looking for a home a temporary solution without tenancy law applying (Kamervragen 2019-2020, nr. 1043). The same answer says an anti kraak agency has no tenancy-law obligations, because there is no rental.

Article 7A:1787 of the Civil Code only stops the owner reclaiming the property before the agreed time or use has ended, so with real bruikleen the notice period in your contract decides when you must leave.

That means:

• Notice comes from the contract. The law sets no notice period in days for bruikleen. In its December 2019 answer to MPs, the government reported that a minimum notice period of 4 weeks had become part of the KLB (Keurmerk Leegstandbeheer), the industry’s quality mark (Kamervragen 2019-2020, nr. 1043). That is a voluntary standard for certified vacancy managers, not a legal rule, so check your contract and ask whether your agency holds the mark. If the owner urgently and unexpectedly needs the property back before the agreed time, a court can order an earlier return (article 7A:1788 BW).
• No tenancy-law notice rules. In a normal tenancy, the landlord needs a legal ground and must give at least 3 months’ notice (article 7:271 BW). The government’s 2019 answer says an anti kraak agency has no tenancy-law obligations, because there is no rental.
• No rent protection. No maximum rent applies to anti kraak (Kamervragen 2019-2020, nr. 1043). You can’t ask the Huurcommissie for a points check or a fee reduction either: its tasks are rulings on tenancy rents, service costs and related matters (article 4 Uitvoeringswet huurprijzen woonruimte), and a genuine bruikleen is not a tenancy.
• No rent allowance. Huurtoeslag (rent allowance) requires a tenancy agreement (Juridisch Loket).
• House rules. You may only use the space in the way its nature or the contract allows (article 7A:1781 BW). The 2019 answer adds that specific conditions can be written into a bruikleen contract and that it is up to you whether to accept them. Read the inspection and visitor clauses before you sign. Check how much warning you get before a visit and who may come in.
• Known defects. If the owner knew of defects that could harm you and didn’t tell you, the owner is responsible for the consequences (article 7A:1790 BW).

You still have the general protections of Dutch contract law. You also still need to register at the address where you actually live, no later than 5 days after moving in (Rijksoverheid). If an agency refuses to let you register, ask why in writing.

Article 7:201 of the Civil Code defines a tenancy as giving someone the use of a property in return for a counter-performance, so a fee that partly pays for the space can turn anti kraak into a tenancy.

Calling it “bruikleen” doesn’t make it bruikleen. In its 2019 answer, the government said this about fees above the KLB maximum:

Your payments may go beyond real costs and partly pay for using the space. If so, the deal may meet the legal definition of huur: use of a property in return for a counter-performance (article 7:201 BW). In some cases, duties you must carry out might also be weighed as counter-performance.

Signs a court may weigh:

• a fixed monthly fee on top of separate energy and water bills
• a fee with no breakdown, or one that rises without matching costs
• duties that look like payment in kind

Even if it is a tenancy, full protection isn’t automatic. Tenancy rules for housing don’t apply to a rental where the use of the home is by its nature only short-term (article 7:232(2) BW). What the building is waiting for, and how long you’ve lived there, can matter for that question.

These questions depend heavily on your facts and documents. Nobody can tell from a webpage how a court would see your contract. If this section sounds like your situation, a tenant lawyer in the Netherlands can look at your contract, payment records and dates.

Article 7A:1787 of the Civil Code allows the owner to reclaim the property once the agreed time or use has ended, so check that the end date in your notice matches the notice period in your contract.

If you think the deal was really a tenancy, get advice before you move out, not after.