Broken boiler in a Dutch rental: who pays for the repair?
Sources checked on 30 August 2026
The landlord pays. Maintenance, repair and replacement of the boiler are the landlord's responsibility, because the boiler belongs to the property and not to you. What the tenant does and pays for is listed in the Besluit kleine herstellingen: topping up the water, bleeding the radiators, lighting the pilot flame and replacing the thermostat battery. Everything beyond that is the landlord's, unless you caused the damage yourself.
Read the transcript
Je cv-ketel doet het niet, en je verhuurder zegt dat jij het maar moet regelen. Klopt dat eigenlijk wel?
Nou, dit is alles wat jij als huurder hoort te doen: water bijvullen, je radiatoren ontluchten, de waakvlam aansteken, en de batterij van je thermostaat.
De rest is voor je verhuurder. Het onderhoud, de reparatie, en de vervanging. Ook als die ketel twaalf jaar oud is, want ouderdom is geen schuld.
Meld het schriftelijk en hou die datum vast. Na zes weken kun je naar de Huurcommissie voor huurverlaging.
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The line is drawn by the Besluit kleine herstellingen
Article 7:217 of the Dutch Civil Code says the tenant pays for small repairs. What counts as small is not left open to interpretation: it is set out in a separate schedule, the Besluit kleine herstellingen. That list is exhaustive, so anything not on it is the landlord's.
For the heating system the decree names four things that are yours: topping up the water, bleeding the radiators, lighting the pilot flame and replacing the thermostat battery. That is the entire list.
A boiler that fails, an expansion vessel that gives out, a pump that seizes, a heat exchanger that scales up: none of these appear, so none of them are yours.
- Topping up water: tenant
- Bleeding radiators: tenant
- Lighting the pilot flame: tenant
- Replacing the thermostat battery: tenant
- Annual servicing, repair and replacement: landlord
Annual servicing is the landlord's too
This is where things go wrong most often in practice. Some landlords write into the contract that the tenant pays for the service contract. That is only allowed if it is agreed as service charges and billed separately; as a general maintenance duty it cannot be pushed onto you.
If your contract contains such a clause it is not automatically valid. In a dispute the Huurcommissie looks at what is actually delivered and whether the amount is reasonable, not at what has been written down.
Practical tip: always ask when the boiler was last serviced. A boiler that has not been looked at for five years does not break because of you, and that is exactly the argument you need if the landlord tries to hand you the bill.
When it does come out of your pocket
There is one exception and it is narrow: damage you caused. Article 7:218 places liability for damage with the tenant, but with an important twist. The tenant is presumed to have caused the damage, except for fire damage and damage to the exterior.
That presumption can be rebutted. A boiler that dies after twelve years is age, not fault, and you do not need a report to prove it. A boiler that fails because you drilled through a pipe is a different story.
If it becomes a discussion, hold on to the age of the boiler and its service history. Those are facts that do not depend on your word.
What to do if the landlord does not respond
A broken boiler in winter is a defect you should not have to wait weeks for. The route is set out in law and it pays to walk it in this order, because each step builds on the last.
- Report the defect in writing. A message or an email is enough, but make sure it carries a date. If you only call, the report does not exist later.
- Give a reasonable deadline. For heating in winter that is days, not weeks; name a concrete date in your message.
- If the landlord does not respond, send a formal notice of default. That is simply a second message stating that you are holding them in default and what deadline remains.
- After that, file a rent reduction request with the Huurcommissie. Rent can be reduced from the moment you reported the defect.
- In an emergency, or with no hot water in winter, you may call an engineer yourself and set off the cost. Only do so after step 3, and keep the invoice.
How quickly does the landlord have to fix it?
The law names no number of days. What it says is that the landlord must remedy a defect once you have reported it, and a broken heating system in the heating season is, by any reasonable measure, a matter of days rather than weeks. A boiler that fails in November is a different defect from the same boiler in July.
The deadline that does matter is the Huurcommissie one: six weeks after your written report you may take the case to them. Those six weeks start on the day you report it, so report it in writing and keep that message. A text to the property manager counts too, as long as you can find it again.
If it takes longer, the landlord does not owe you a hotel, but does owe you a workable interim solution. In practice that means electric heaters, and the landlord should supply or reimburse them. Ask for that explicitly in the same email, because it is almost never offered.
- Report the defect in writing and note the date. This is the day the six weeks start running.
- In that same message, ask for an interim solution for heating, and name the rooms that are unheated.
- If you get no reply within a week, send a reminder that refers back to your first message.
- If it is still not fixed after six weeks, file a rent reduction request with the Huurcommissie.
- Keep every receipt for replacement heating: you can bring those to the rent reduction case.
What it costs if you arrange it yourself
In case you own your home or have to pay up front: these are the guide prices we use, including VAT.
| What | Guide price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Call-out, first hour | €90 - €150 | often includes the call-out fee |
| Annual service | €90 - €140 | one-off, no contract |
| Service contract | €10 - €18 per month | includes breakdowns and call-out |
| Expansion vessel replacement | €150 - €300 | labour plus parts |
| New boiler, installed | €1,800 - €3,200 | depends on output and brand |
Guide prices for 2026 including VAT. Outside office hours an emergency rate almost always applies.
When you do not need an engineer
You can fix some faults yourself in five minutes, and calling out an engineer for something explained on the boiler itself costs you a call-out fee for nothing.
If there is a fault code on the display, look it up in the manual for your brand first. The most common ones are low water pressure and a stuck pump, and the first of those you top up yourself.
- Pressure below 1 bar: top up to 1.5 bar using the filling tap, that is tenant's work
- Radiator warm at the top and cold at the bottom: bleed it, also tenant's work
- Boiler dead after a power cut: unplug, wait ten seconds, plug back in
- Fault code that returns after a reset: then do call, that is not a one-off
Frequently asked questions
Can the landlord charge me for the service contract?
Only if it is agreed as service charges and itemised separately. As a general maintenance obligation in the tenancy agreement it cannot be done, because maintaining the installation is the landlord's task under article 7:206.
My boiler is twelve years old. Must the landlord replace it?
There is no statutory maximum age. What does apply: if the boiler fails, replacement is the landlord's. A boiler that keeps breaking down can be reported as a defect to the Huurcommissie, even if it still works in between.
I called an engineer without asking. Will I be reimbursed?
Only if you first put the landlord in default in writing and they did not respond within a reasonable period, or in an emergency. Without that step the landlord usually does not bear the cost.
Does this also apply to a housing association?
Yes, the Besluit kleine herstellingen applies to all residential tenancies. Associations often have a service fund that buys off small repairs; check whether you contribute to it.
The boiler broke due to freezing. Who pays?
That depends on the cause. If the home was unheated because you were away without leaving the heating on low, the damage is yours. If the pipe ran through an unheated space without insulation, that is a defect in the property.
Can I withhold rent while the boiler is broken?
Withholding on your own is risky, because you build up arrears. The safe route is a rent reduction request with the Huurcommissie, which can lower the rent retroactively from the date you reported it.
Can I buy electric heaters myself and send on the bill?
Only if you asked first and the landlord did not respond, or responded too late. Buy them straight away and send the receipt afterwards, and they may refuse. Ask in writing, give a deadline of a few days, and say that otherwise you will buy something yourself. That puts your claim on record.
Sources
Every claim on this page comes from one of these sources. They were checked on 30 August 2026. Legislation changes, so check the source itself if anything matters to you.
Tools for your own address
Three things you can check here for free that you will not find like this anywhere else. They run on open data from the Dutch Land Registry, the buildings register and the national energy agency, so the answer applies to your house and not to an average.
This is not legal advice
We set out what the rules say and where they are. Your situation may differ, and in a dispute your own contract, your deed of division or your local council's bylaw takes precedence. If you cannot work it out, Het Juridisch Loket, the Huurcommissie or a lawyer can help.