Can I use my deposit as my last month’s rent in the Netherlands?

Article 7:261b of the Civil Code makes the deposit security for what you agreed in the lease, repayable within 14 days after the tenancy ends, so it is not a prepayment of your last month’s rent. Your landlord can agree to use it that way. Without that agreement, you still owe the rent on the date your lease sets.

• Rent is due on time: the Juridisch Loket puts it plainly: you may not have rent arrears, and your lease says when the rent is due (Juridisch Loket).
• The deposit covers 4 costs: unpaid rent, service costs, damage you are responsible for and the energy performance fee (energieprestatievergoeding). Administration costs may not be set off (Rijksoverheid).
• Your lease matters: check what it says about the deposit and the rent dates. If a clause is unclear, a tenancy lawyer can read it with you.

The unpaid month becomes rent arrears, which government.nl lists first among the 4 costs a landlord may deduct from the deposit, and the landlord then has 30 days instead of 14 to repay the rest. The deposit you hoped to use is then partly spent before the inspection.

• Collection costs: a landlord who sends a payment reminder must give you 14 days to pay; if you do not, you owe buitengerechtelijke incassokosten (extrajudicial collection costs) on top (Juridisch Loket).
• Statutory interest: rent has a fixed due date, so once it passes unpaid you are in default without a warning letter, and the landlord can claim wettelijke rente (statutory interest) (Civil Code, articles 6:83 and 6:119).
• Damage on top: if the landlord also claims damage, less of the deposit is left to cover it, so a dispute about damage becomes a dispute about money you owe, not money the landlord holds.
• The court, not the Huurcommissie: deposit disputes go through the municipality or the court; the Huurcommissie plays no role (Volkshuisvesting Nederland).

You can agree, but check the numbers first: Rijksoverheid caps the deposit at 2 months’ basic rent on leases from 1 July 2023, so it can be larger than one month’s rent. On an older lease the cap is 3 months, which Rijksoverheid says the courts set.

• The difference is yours: whatever the deposit exceeds the last rent by is repaid within 14 days after the tenancy ends, or within 30 days with a written, complete cost specification if the landlord deducts costs (article 7:261b).
• Only the 4 costs: a deduction for administration, contract or key fees is not allowed. Our guide to illegal deposit deductions lists what a landlord may keep.
• Cleaning: the landlord may deduct the cost of cleaning only if you left the home not clean or not as agreed, and never for normal wear or the landlord’s own neglected maintenance (Rijksoverheid).
• Ask for a final line: ask the landlord to confirm in writing, after the inspection, whether the deposit is settled in full or which costs are still open.