AG Hart Advocaten

In hartje Rotterdam.

Tenancy Law 

Tenancy law is the branch of the Dutch Civil Law system that deals with lease agreements.

The Dutch Civil Code governs lease agreements. The Dutch Civil Code, Book 7 states specific agreements and its Title 4 contains the regulations for lease agreements. In addition to specific regulations, the general rules set forth in Book 6 are also applicable to lease agreements.

The definition of the lease agreement is given in Art. 7:201 of the Dutch Civil Code: “a lease agreement is an agreement by which one of the parties, the lessor, agrees to grant the other party, the lessee, the use of an immovable or movable thing or of a part of such thing, opposite to which the lessee engages himself to perform a counter performance.” The law hereby explicitly excludes farm leasing. The farm lease agreement fully complies with the definition of the lease agreement but because the legislator deemed a separate regulation for farm leasing to be necessary it is not covered by the lease agreement. Another exception is the real right of use and habitation. Under this right another party may also be given the right of use of a business, whereby the user engages himself to perform a counter performance. In this case the regulations of the tenancy law do not apply, even though the agreement complies with the legal definition of a lease agreement.