Wat kun je doen als je een woning zoekt in Nederland?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (huren of kopen)
Inburgeringsexamen · Wonen
KNM Practice Questions: Wonen (Housing in the Netherlands, 2026)
Wonen is the KNM theme about finding and keeping a home in the Netherlands. You can rent or buy; when you rent you sign a huurcontract and pay rent to the landlord every month, often after paying a waarborgsom, a deposit you get back if you leave the home tidy. Social housing runs through a woningcorporatie and usually has a waiting list, huurtoeslag helps low incomes with the rent, and when you move you report your new address to the gemeente. Around the house itself, the exam tests energy contracts, separating waste and how to handle noisy neighbours.
Practice
Free practice questions
Wat doe je als je een woning huurt?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (huren)
Wat teken je als je een woning gaat huren?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (huurcontract)
Wat is een waarborgsom?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (waarborgsom)
Wanneer krijg je de waarborgsom terug?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (waarborgsom terug)
Waar vraag je een sociale huurwoning aan?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (sociale huur)
Wat is vaak zo bij een sociale huurwoning?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (wachtlijst)
Voor wie zijn sociale huurwoningen vooral bedoeld?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (sociale huur doelgroep)
Wat kun je aanvragen als je een laag inkomen hebt?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (huurtoeslag)
Wanneer krijg je geen huurtoeslag?
Based on: KNM: Wonen (voorwaarde huurtoeslag)
Renting a home: contract, deposit, social housing and huurtoeslag
The renting questions form a chain you can walk step by step. First the choice: in the Netherlands you can rent or buy a home. When you rent, you sign a huurcontract, the rental contract that states the rent and the rules, and you pay the landlord rent every month while the home stays the landlord's property. Before you move in you often pay a waarborgsom, a deposit paid in advance, and the exam tests the return condition precisely: you get the deposit back if you leave the home tidy. For cheaper housing the route is social housing: you apply for a sociale huurwoning at a woningcorporatie, a housing corporation, and there is often a waiting list. Social housing is mainly meant for people with little money, because the rent is lower. Money help exists on top: huurtoeslag, the rent benefit, is help with paying the rent for people with a low income, but if you earn too much you do not get it. Two protections close the renting chain: huurbescherming, tenant protection, means the landlord cannot simply evict you, and an inboedelverzekering covers your belongings in the house against damage or theft. Buyers get one fact of their own: in an apartment building there is often a VvE, the owners' association.
Living there: energy, waste, moving house and the neighbours
Once you live somewhere, the exam switches to the practical routines of a Dutch household. Energy comes first: gas, water en licht is the everyday phrase for the energy in your home, and you sign a contract for gas and electricity with an energieleverancier, an energy supplier. Waste is a genuinely Dutch exam favourite: it is normal in the Netherlands to separate your waste. GFT-afval stands for groente-, fruit- en tuinafval, vegetable, fruit and garden waste, and an old newspaper goes with the paper. Moving house triggers an administrative duty the exam returns to in several themes: when you move, you report your new address to the gemeente, so that your address in the municipal records stays correct. Finally, the neighbour questions test Dutch social expectations rather than law. Overlast, nuisance, is for example too much noise or loud music, and the expected first step is not the police or the landlord: you first talk calmly with your neighbours, because you often find a solution together. That preference for talking first is exactly the kind of everyday norm KNM checks.
| Dutch term | What it means on the exam |
|---|---|
| Huurcontract | The rental contract you sign; it states the rent and the rules |
| Waarborgsom | A deposit paid in advance; returned if you leave the home tidy |
| Woningcorporatie | Where you apply for a social housing home; often a waiting list |
| Huurtoeslag | Help with paying the rent for low incomes; not if you earn too much |
| Huurbescherming | Tenant protection: the landlord cannot just evict you |
| Inboedelverzekering | Insurance covering your belongings in the house |
| VvE | Owners' association in a building with owner-occupied homes |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a waarborgsom and when do you get it back?
A waarborgsom is a deposit: money you pay the landlord in advance when you start renting. You get it back if you leave the home tidy when you move out. The exam tests both halves, what the deposit is and the condition for its return, so learn them as one sentence.
How do you get a social housing home in the Netherlands?
You apply at a woningcorporatie, a housing corporation, and there is often a waiting list, so you usually have to wait a while. Social housing homes are mainly meant for people with little money, because the rent is lower than in the free sector.
What is huurtoeslag and who receives it?
Huurtoeslag is the rent benefit: help with paying the rent for people with a low income. If you earn too much, you do not get it. Like the other toeslagen, it comes from the Belastingdienst, which is a crossover fact with the Instanties theme.
What does GFT-afval mean?
GFT stands for groente-, fruit- en tuinafval: vegetable, fruit and garden waste. Separating waste is normal in the Netherlands, and the exam checks the categories with examples, such as an old newspaper belonging with the paper. Learn GFT as the abbreviation question it usually is.
What must you do with your address when you move?
Report your new address to the gemeente, the municipality, so that your address in the municipal records is correct. This duty appears in the Wonen theme and again in the Instanties theme, because address changes, passports and registration all run through the gemeente.
What should you do first about nuisance from your neighbours?
First talk calmly with your neighbours. Overlast is, for example, too much noise or loud music, and the expected Dutch first step is a conversation, because you often find a solution together. The exam is testing the social norm of talking first, not a legal procedure.