13. Huurders in de knel

High rent while your house is full of mold and vermin. Young tenants are often the victims of the overstressed rental market. The housing shortage is so great that landlords are asking exorbitant prices for houses. Sometimes up to half of your monthly income, while the home is in poor condition. What can you do then? The law states that tenants have the right to lower rent or improvements if a house is really bad. But what about this in practice? In the private rental sector you can only enforce this through the courts. An expensive route that few people dare to take. Are tenants footing the bill for the runaway housing market?