Vesteda ends tenant nominations

From 1 April 2022, Vesteda will once again offer all of its newly available rental properties for rent through its website. As a result of this move, it will no longer be possible for departing tenants to nominate a candidate tenant for a vacant property. There are two reasons for this policy change: to increase the public housing supply and to prevent departing tenants from asking prospective tenants for so-called key money.

For many years, Vesteda has allowed departing tenants to nominate new candidates for their rental property. This so-called tenant nomination was originally intended to facilitate a smooth transfer of the rental property: Vesteda did not have to look for new prospective tenants and the departing and new tenants could reach an arrangement about taking over the likes of laminate floors or curtains. While everyone involved has been very happy with this arrangement for quite some time, Vesteda has decided to bring an end to tenant nominations.

More public supply of rental housing

Our first reason for ending the tenant nomination system is that from 1 April of this year all vacant properties will appear on the market. This gives everyone an equal chance of being able to rent a home. At the moment, almost 25% of our vacant homes are rented out by word of mouth, which meant that these homes were never offered on our website. This means that prospective tenants who do not know anyone with a soon-to-be vacant property is more likely to miss out. Vesteda feels that in such a tight housing market it is fairer to offer all available homes to everyone publicly.

Takeover price is increasingly disguised as key money

A second reason to stop tenant introductions is that we have recently been receiving an increasing number of complaints from prospective tenants. After analysing incoming complaints, it turned out that the takeover fees being requested were not always in proportion to the value of the items being acquired. For example, one departing tenant used social media to request a takeover fee of € 11,000 for a laminate floor and some second-hand furniture. Of course, a prospective tenant can always refuse to take over such items. But nowadays, departing tenants are increasingly demanding the payment of a generous takeover price as a condition for being recommended to Vesteda as a prospective tenant. In these cases, it is a question of a disguised and dubious way of asking for key money. Vesteda explicitly distances itself from this practice and for this reason is also bringing a halt to the possibility of nominating prospective tenants.

Tenant nominations will remain possible in some cases

In the high-end rental segment of rental homes with a basic rent from € 1,400 per month, it will remain possible to nominate a new tenant yourself. In this rental segment, there is a much greater supply of homes and hidden key money is rare.