30% more tenant reports: how growing communication pressure is changing property management

In 2024, more than 18,500 tenants and landlords filed a case with the Huurcommissie (the Dutch rent tribunal that rules on disputes between tenants and landlords), 30% more than the year before. At the same time, !WOON answered almost 80,000 questions about renting in the Amsterdam region in 2025. The question isn't whether tenants are asking more questions than before, but how you handle it.

Maintenance, servicekosten (service charges), rent levels: the issues that concern tenants aren't new. What is new is the volume, and tenants' growing willingness to take formal steps. That makes communication no longer a side issue in property management, but a core process.

The rise in numbers

The growth in the number of tenant cases at the Huurcommissie tells a clear story. According to the Huurcommissie's 2024 annual report, the number of cases involving serious maintenance defects rose from more than 4,500 in 2023 to over 5,800 in 2024, an increase of more than 30%. Compared with 2022, that's growth of almost 50%.

Mould plays a leading role: in almost a third of the 5,200 maintenance cases handled, mould was a (partial) subject. In Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, tenants won the majority of these cases. Housing associations (woningcorporaties, Dutch social housing landlords) won 40% of the proceedings, private landlords 33%.

The question this raises for you isn't legal. It's operational: how do you prevent a maintenance complaint from escalating into a formal procedure?

80,000 questions in one region

Proceedings at the Huurcommissie are the tip of the iceberg. Far more questions never become formal. !WOON received almost 80,000 questions about housing in the Amsterdam region in 2025. Most concerned maintenance, servicekosten and rent levels.

This figure gives an impression of the underlying demand pressure on property managers across the country. For every case that reaches the Huurcommissie, there are dozens of tenants asking the same question through an informal channel: to their landlord, to a legal advice centre, or to a neighbour.

As a property manager, you're the first link in that chain. How quickly you respond, how clearly you communicate and whether you proactively inform tenants about maintenance largely determines whether a tenant takes a formal step or not. An unanswered message or a missed call back is rarely the cause of a case, but it's often the trigger for one.

What top performers do differently

The Aedes benchmark 2025 proves it can be done better. In 2025, 57% of housing associations achieved an A-score on the repair process, with an average rating of 8.1. A year earlier, this figure was lower. Associations that achieve an A-score communicate consistently about the status of a repair: they confirm the report, inform the tenant about the schedule and actively ask for feedback afterwards.

The pattern behind these scores is consistent: tenants who know what will happen and when file fewer complaints. The flow of information doesn't need to be complicated. A confirmation that a report has been received, an update if the schedule changes, a message when the work is finished. Three moments, each with a short message. That's enough to preserve the tenant's sense of control and reduce the chance of escalation.

The difference between associations with an A-score and the rest, then, rarely lies in the speed of the repair itself. It lies in the communication around it.

Backlog maintenance isn't the only cause

The rise in the number of tenant cases has several causes. In its annual report, the Huurcommissie points to deferred maintenance by landlords, delayed renovations and mild winters that encourage mould growth. But higher tenant expectations and greater awareness of formal rights also play a role.

That last point is structural. Tenants are better informed than they were five years ago. Organisations such as !WOON, the Woonbond and the Huurcommissie itself invest in accessible information. As a result, tenants are quicker to know when they're entitled to a rent reduction or repair, and more willing to demand it.

For you, this isn't a threat, but a reality to respond to. A well-informed tenant expects their manager to be well-informed too. If you react as though you're surprised by a complaint that's been going on for weeks, you immediately lose credibility.

What helps is an active reporting system where tenants can easily submit an issue and receive immediate confirmation. This not only resolves practical problems faster, it also documents the communication if a case does escalate. If you can show that you responded to a report within 24 hours and kept the tenant informed of progress, you're in a different legal position than someone who can't produce any record of communication.

Practical conclusion

The growth in tenant questions and cases won't disappear on its own. The demand pressure partly reflects a maintenance backlog in the sector, but also higher expectations and a greater willingness to exercise formal rights.

If you take this seriously, you build a systematic approach around three questions: how quickly do you confirm a report, how do you keep the tenant informed along the way, and how do you close a case properly?

These aren't the hardest questions in property management. But answering them well, consistently, makes the difference between a tenant who waits and a tenant who calls, and ultimately between a tenant who's satisfied and a tenant who starts a case.