Check the annual service charge account in four parts

Which period is covered?

The Huurcommissie explains annual accounting. Landlords normally provide an account within six months after the calendar year. Compare this with your tenancy period. A supplier invoice may cover a different period from the year or your occupation. Ask how the periods were reconciled. Receiving a bill after moving is not automatically incorrect.

Check your own advances first

List actual payments from bank statements, separating basic rent and advances. Include changes during the year and returned payments. Compare the sum with the account. Do not simply multiply a monthly amount by twelve where occupation was shorter or advances changed. Identifying a missing payment by date and bank evidence is a practical arithmetic check rather than a legal conclusion.

Connect each charge to a service

Identify what was supplied: stairwell cleaning differs from boiler maintenance or furniture use. Read the agreement and amendments. The service charge guide helps assess permissible categories. An owner’s building-cost total may include expenses not chargeable to tenants. Request individual components before copying a combined figure into your own calculation or accepting its description as sufficient justification.

Inspect the underlying invoice

Request relevant supporting documents and compare supplier, work, period and figures. An agent’s internal schedule differs from an external invoice. Mark missing documents as missing instead of guessing their contents. If an invoice covers several buildings, request the amount attributable to your building and the calculation establishing it. Keep the document reference beside the relevant account item.

Assess allocation among occupants

Even a correct building invoice can be allocated wrongly. Check how many homes share costs and whether the service requires a particular method. Consider vacancies or changed layouts without assuming every item uses an identical allocation. Ask why the chosen measure fits. Write the numerator and denominator explicitly to make any error visible and discussable.

Energy also requires meter information

For gas, water and electricity, establish readings, meter identity and tariff. Higher consumption, prices or a different allocation can each explain a large bill. Compare these possibilities separately. For estimated readings, ask for their basis and any later actual reading. A neighbour average alone does not establish that your recorded consumption is wrong.

Calculate the balance afterwards

Compare allocated actual costs with paid advances. Different items may produce credits and amounts due. Show what you accept and what remains unassessed. The tool assists arithmetic, not statutory admissibility. Retain inputs and account version so a later correction is not compared against an old calculation as though both used identical information.

Request support for the new advance separately

The account looks backwards; an advance estimates future expenditure. A large balancing payment can prompt discussion but does not justify every proposed new monthly figure. Request prices and expected usage. Separate genuine ongoing changes from one-off corrections. Advance disputes can have different procedural conditions from final annual accounts, so identify the relevant route before applying.

Object while preserving the relevant accounting year

The procedural rules describe prior written contact and response opportunity. The accounting year matters to a Huurcommissie filing deadline, not merely receipt. Read service charge objections. Negotiation does not automatically suspend filing. If a deadline is near, seek immediate advice instead of completing a self-imposed lengthy correspondence schedule first. For the described annual service-charge procedure, Huurcommissie policy sets the final application deadline at two and a half years after the accounting year. For calendar year 2024, this is 30 June 2027. Also check jurisdiction and the required prior letter; discussions do not automatically extend this deadline. Source.

• Dated account version and calendar year
• Occupation period and changed advances
• Bank evidence and total paid
• Invoices for disputed services
• Meter readings and identification
• Allocation method and personal balance calculation