The housing valuation system (woningwaarderingsstelsel, WWS), introduced in 1979, sets a maximum legal rent for a dwelling by awarding points for floor area, amenities, energy performance, monument status and assessed value. The point total places a home in the regulated social segment or above the liberalisation threshold where rents are free. Tenants can challenge excess rents before the Rent Tribunal (Huurcommissie). A 2024 reform extended regulation upward into the mid-market segment.
The WWS is the technical core of Dutch rent regulation, defining which dwellings are affordable-by-law and shaping the size of the regulated rental market.
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