This article only applies to Long Stay. Click here to find more information about the difference between Long Stay and Short Stay housing.

How do you determine the amount of service costs?

Your monthly rent consists of two components: the net rent (also known as basic rent) and the service costs. The service costs may vary depending on the type of accommodation, but typically cover expenses such as cleaning, heating, water, electricity, and municipal taxes. An advance payment for these service costs is included in your rent. Before July 1st, you will receive a statement detailing the actual costs incurred during the previous calendar year. Based on this statement, you may either receive a refund or be required to make an additional payment. The advance payment for service costs is initially based on an estimation, particularly for energy, gas, or water usage. This estimation is derived from historical average usage or projected future costs. At the end of each calendar year, the SSH receives an invoice for the annual usage. Before July 1st, we will provide a statement for each tenant, indicating the difference between the advance payment made and the actual costs incurred during the previous calendar year. If you have rented your room for only a portion of the calendar year, the costs will be calculated accordingly for that period. Fortunately, most tenants (thankfully!) receive a refund in this process.

How do you determine the settlement of heating costs?

Of all the service costs, the settlement of heating costs is the most complex. To understand how this settlement is calculated, it's important to know that each living space is assigned a weighting factor. This weighting factor is determined by the living area of the room or house, with 65% based on the room's area and the remaining 35% evenly distributed among all living spaces in the building. The total energy costs of the building are divided by the weighting factor of the specific living space.

When someone has rented a room or apartment from us for only part of the calendar year, we consider the number of degree days during the rental period. This is a legally required method if the energy company's settlement period doesn't align with the heating costs settlement period. This method assumes that energy is only consumed when the temperature is below 18 °C. Essentially, with the fixed advance payment amount for twelve months, you pay less in winter and more in summer. If you rent throughout the year, this balances out. However, if you rent only during the colder months, your advance payment is insufficient, and we adjust it based on the degree-day method described above.

Two examples: 

• Rental period: from 1 January until 1 March. The total service costs of this student house are €1000. The weighting factor for the room in question is 10 compared to 60. This is an allocation key that comes from our system and is 65% based on the room’s living area. We divide the total costs by the total weighting factor: €1000 x (10/60) = €166.67. These would be the tenant’s costs if he rented from January 1st to December 31st. However, this tenant has rented from January 1st to March 1st: 800 degree days have been registered in that period, out of a total of 3000 degree days in the year. The amount €166.67 is divided by the total number of degree days = 0.0555. 0.0555 is multiplied by the number of degree days in the rental period. Then you arrive at an amount of €44.44. The amount of €44.44 is set against the advance payment for the heating costs. If the advance payment is €15 per month, then the tenant has paid €30 in advance for January and February. He must therefore pay an additional €14.44.
• Rental period: from 1 January until 31 December. The total service costs of this student house are €1000. The weighting factor for the room in question is 10 compared to 60. This is an allocation key that comes from our system and is 65% based on the room’s living area. We divide the total costs by the total weighting factor: €1000 x (10/60) = €166.67. This amount is set against the advance payment for the heating costs. Suppose the advance payment is €15 per month, then the tenant has paid €180 in advance for the months January to December. He will receive a refund: €13,33.

Before July 1st, you will receive a statement  of the actual costs of the previous calendar year.

What are degree days? 

A degree day is a unit of calculation to easily include the (varying) temperature in calculations on, for example, energy consumption. The number of degree days indicates how many degrees the actual temperature has been colder than the heating limit of 18 degrees Celsius. The colder a period has been, the more degree days have been registered. In this way, a relationship is established between the outside temperature and the use of the heating.

We agree that the term ‘days’ in the word ‘degree days’ is very confusing. There are more degree days than there are days in the year. To understand why this is so, it is helpful to know that a degree day is calculated as follows: the reference temperature (18 °C) minus the average temperature over the entire day, minimized to 0. The average temperature for a day in The Netherlands is measured at the KNMI in De Bilt. However, we use several measuring stations to calculate the degree days in other SSH cities.

If the average temperature on a particular day was, for example, 10 degrees Celsius, then that day has 18 - 10 = 8 degree days. If the average temperature is higher than the reference temperature (for example, 20 degrees), no heating is usually needed; the number of degree days is then 0 (and not -2). Here you can find the number of degree days per month.

I have to pay extra, how is that possible? 

If you have to pay extra, there can be various reasons for this:

• you have used more energy than you paid us through the advance in your rent, for example, because of a cold winter or because you are more at home;
• you have not rented from us for a whole year, and your rental period has mainly been during a cold period. The number of degree days is therefore relatively high;
• heating and electricity have become more expensive.

Why do I get (a lot of) money back?

If you receive (a lot of) money back, there can be several reasons for this: 

• Less energy has been used than you paid us through the advance in your rent, e.g. because of a relatively warm winter.
• Your building or dormitory was eligible in 2023 for a one-time "temporary block allowance", in Dutch called 'bloksubsidie'. We applied for this allowance at the Tax Office and deducted it from your advance payment. Please note: if you receive (a lot of) money back because of the 'bloksubsidie', it does not mean that your advance will be reduced next year. We expect that we have estimated your advance correctly. 

We've got collective metering. Why does my bill differ from my neighbours? 

This can be for two reasons: your living space differs in surface area, so you pay a different advance for the service costs, or your rental period is not the same.

I have lived at several addresses during a calendar year. Can you settle the amounts with each other?

Unfortunately that is not possible. Our system creates a separate bill for each address.

Why don't have all rooms have individual meters? 

Due to rising gas prices in 2022, we have checked out whether we can provide energy consumption insights at a more individual level. As it is not possible to install an individual meter per room, we have investigated whether it's possible to add an intermediate meter on room radiators and more insights for the whole dormitory. Research shows that the savings from the intermediate meters do not outweigh the costs of installing the intermediate meters. It will therefore be more expensive for you as a tenant.

Because more individual metering does not provide you with full insight into your consumption and the energy bill becomes more expensive, we have decided not to apply more individual metering for our existing student buildings. Do you want to make a sustainable impact as a resident or student house with SSH's help? Then we have several initiatives for all tenants or for specific buildings. Please take a look at our sustainability page.

Can I have a look into my usage? 

Unfortunately, you can't; we have no insight into your usage during the year.

Do I have to pay waste collection charges?

For rooms with shared facilities, municipal waste collection charges are included in the rent. Municipal waste collection charges are not included in self-contained accommodation. By this, we mean accommodation with their own entrance, kitchen and toilet. Keep in mind that you will receive an annual bill from the municipality on top of your rent!