FAQ

Please see below document for general information about living at Ministerie van Marine. We advise you to download and save this document, and consult it before contacting us. Your question might be already answered by this document.

Every now and then, this document is updated and hence we advise you to always refer to the general information folder found online (here below) instead of your personal download. This way, you always refer to the most up-to-date version.

Tenant information –   General information folder

Ministerie van Marine is a place exclusively for students, interns and PhD candidates (up to 35 years of age). A proof of enrollment at an eductational instution must be provided at the beginning and during the tenancy period.

Tenants are not allowed to have children living with them in Ministerie van Marine.

For students, interns, and PhD candidates, we draw up a campus contract. With this contract, you can live at Ministerie van Marine until you graduate.

For young professionals, we make up a temporary lease contract with a maximum of 2 years. Then, you will have to move.

You are only allowed to live together in rooms larger than 30m2 and the two-bedroom studios. You can live together with a friend or your partner, it’s up to you.

The person that you want to live together with, can register him/herself as co-tenant. For this, this person also requires a profile on our website. After having checked the profile, we can draw up an allonge. With this document, the co-tenant can also register him/herself on the address at the The Hague municipality.

Please send us an email to info@minvm.nl for more information.

You are not allowed to live in Ministerie van Marine with children.

In order to apply for a room at Ministerie van Marine, you need to create an account on our website. Check your profile page to see which documents are required to complete your profile. Also check the procedure for more information.

Complete your profile by entering your preferences and uploading the requested documents. Once you’re ready, send us an email and we will check your profile.

The sooner you subscribe and complete your profile, the sooner we can assign you a room.

You can always plan a viewing via our website.

If you are aged 23 years or older you may be entitled to housing benefit. You can check this on www.belastingdienst.nl The housing benefit may vary from €396 up to €459 per month (see attachment1 and attachment2 for the calculations for the tax authorities). You must submit the following amounts in your application for housing allowance:

Basic rent € …….. (see agreement)
Service costs € 27 (see below)

Only a small part of your advance payments of your service costs are taken into account when applying for housing allowance. These €27 that are taken into account consist of:

• Cleaning of common areas € 12
• Mains services in common areas € 7
• Costs of concierge € 8
• Costs of service area and recreation room € 0

Yes, we take your preferences into consideration.

If you would like to recommend a friend or a colleague to come live next door to you, on the same floor or somewhere else in the building, we will do our best to meet your request.

Please note that we can do so depending upon availability.

All apartments are fully furnished with a kitchen (sink, stove, cooker hood, fridge) and bathroom (shower, toilet, sink), and carpeted. In addition, they include the following furniture:

• A queen-sized bed (in 1 bedroom studio’s)
• Closed off storage under the bed
• A cupboard
• A table
• Two chairs
• A lounge chair
• A lamp
• A ceiling lamp

At Ministerie van Marine, we offer the following in addition to a fully furnished and carpeted room:

• In-room internet connection;
• In-room television subscription;
• Laundry room with washing machines and dryers;
• Roofed bike shed;
• Roofed paid parking garage;
• Rooftop terrace with amazing views of The Hague;
• Common areas to relax, study and work;
• Daily cleaning of common spaces.

You can download a copy of the contract here

To access your signed contract, payment and contact details, log in to the website www.wolfhuisvestingsgroep.nl using the email address that you use to communicate with us. If it is your first visit, set your password by clicking on ‘wachtwoord vergeten’. You will then receive an email with your password (check your spam box in case you don’t see the email straight away).

Another way is to go back to your email, search for ‘Signrequest’ and click the link in th email you have received after signing the contract. You will then see the contract you have signed and hence are able to download it.

You can also download the Concept campus agreement Torenstraat Den Haag

At signing of the tenancy agreement, you will pay the deposit (equal to two times the monthly rent) and the rent for (the remaining of) the first month with your bank/debet card.

For the remaining months, we will automatically collect the rent and service costs from your bank account through a direct debit for the following month at the end of each month.

Monthly payments are taken by direct debit. We can only collect rent from a Dutch bank account. If you don’t have a Dutch bank account, please make sure you open one within one week after signing the contract. Login to our website to update your bank details and inform us by sending an email to info@minvm.nl.

We will return (the remainder of) your deposit two to three weeks after the date that your tenancy agreement has terminated.

In case of cancellation, we will try to automatically collect the amount again after a couple of days. Make sure that you have enough credit on your account.

Please refer to your tenancy agreement to read about the consequences (e.g. fines and actions) of late payment and/or payment arrears. You can download your contract by logging in to your account on our website.

Depending on the type of apartment you are renting, the service charge will be between €250 and €370 per month.

This is an advance payment and will be settled once a year for the previous year. You may need to pay extra or receive a refund depending on your energy and water consumption.

Refer to your tenancy agreement to see what is included in the service costs.

As a tenant, you pay advance service costs on a monthly basis.

After each calender year, we collect the information from the utility providers as well as other service providers. Following this information, we make an overview of all the actual costs of that calendar year. In some cases, you will get some money back and in other cases you will have to pay some extra money.

We strive to reconcile all service costs as soon as possible. You can expect to be informed about the outcome around June.

Your address is:

Torenstraat [roomnumber in your contract]

2513 DR The Hague

Please note that your address is NOT Torenstraat 172, but Torenstraat [roomnumber in your contract].

Upon arrival, you receive the following keys:

• 1 entry tag/card;
• 1 L-shaped emergency key;
• 1 mailbox key;
• 1 bike shed key.

All the locks at the main entrances and the rooms are electronic locks.

To enter the building, open the door using your entry tag/card by holding it against the black card reader. You should hear one bleep and see a green light. After the bleep, pull firmly to open the door.

To enter your apartment, open the door using your entry tag/card by holding it against the black door knob. You’ll hear a bleep and see a blue light. Now you can open the door by turning the black knob.

The lock works on batteries, which will occasionally die. Before that happens you will see a red light instead of a blue light when you want to open the door. Send us an email when you see the red light and we will change the battery as soon as possible. What if you do not notice the red light or do not let us know in time? At some point, the battery dies and you can only open your room door with the L-shaped emergency key.

We advise you not to keep the L-shaped emergency key in your room but at a safe place (e.g. a friend, who lives nearby).

Upon your arrival at Ministerie van Marine, you have been given an  L-shaped emergency key that allows you to open your room door manually.  In case you have lost your entry tag/card, you can always open your room door with this emergency key. We advise you to not leave this key in your room but to put it somewhere accessible in case you are locked out of your room.

The replacement of an entry tag/card and other keys costs money. A new entry card/tag costs €50, a new mailbox/bike shed key €50, and a new emergency key costs €150. Send us an email to info@minvm.nl to report that you have lost a key and to request a replacement.

Have you locked yourself out? Use your L-shaped emergency key, which you have stored in a safe space that is not your own room. In case you do not have your emergency key at hand, we can open your door for you (until 00:00 and depending on direct availability). This service costs  €50. You can report your lockout via email to info@minvm.nl and/or dial our 24/7 available emergency phone number via +31 (0)70 239 0106.

Directly after you have received the keys to your room, always check your room for any defects, damages or missing furnishings and fittings. If you find anything the matter that has not been included in the arrival inspection report, please send an email  to info@minvm.nl including photos within 24 hours of moving in. To speed up processing, please state your apartment number and phone number in the email.

In case you experience a (technical) defect in the room after some time, please send us an email to info@minvm.nl so we can inform the relevant maintenance company if applicable.

As a tenant, you are responsible for minor repairs such as replacement of light bulbs. The Dutch government clearly answers this question. Or see the translation in English.

For all questions regarding the installation of your TV, please refer to below document (see ‘download their information here’).

Concerning the internet, there are two ways to set up an internet connection.

1. Plug an Ethernet cable from your laptop into the wall socket;
2. Buy your own router, plug it into the wall socket, and set up your personal wireless network.

If you have any problems with your internet connection and/or TV, please contact the ITT Desk on 0031 (0)85-0140427. Download their information here. 

The common rooms are equipped with a wireless WiFi network. You can connect to this network with the information stated below.

Network: Ziggo_ITTdesk

Password: Toren2016!

Please note that the common rooms’ wireless network should not be used in your room!

In case you would like to park your car permanently in the Ministerie van Marine parking garage (location: Snoekstraat), please refer to the website of ParkBee (parkbee.com/nl/abonnementen) for the possibilities for a subscription.

In case you would like to park a car in the Ministerie van Marine parking garage occasionally (for example to facilitate moving or receive visit), please also refer to the ParkBee website and/or various mobile parking applications, such as ParkMobile.

You can access the bike shed with your bike shed key through the entrance on Snoekstraat. Cross the car park to enter the building through the rear entrance.

Please make sure you only store your bike in the bike sheds.

The laundry room is located in the souterrain in the corridor with rooms 180 – 206.

You can select a machine using the terminal on the wall. You can only pay wireless and with a debit card. The cost is € 2 per load for the washing machine or the tumble dryer.

There is an elaborate and step-by-step user instruction available in the laundry room for the washing machines, drying machines and the payment terminal.

The bathroom light is operated by a motion sensor. It turns on/off automatically.

In some rooms, the bathroom light can be operated with a cord.

You are not allowed to move the bed frame nor deconstruct the bedframe. In both cases, you cause damage to the bed frame as these are not made to be replaced/deconstructed. The costs for repair and/or replacement are charged to the tenant in case of damage to the bed frame.

The above is also applicable to the clothing cupboard attached to the bedframe!

Other furniture, such as the table, two chairs, and lounge chair, may of course be moved in the room.

Stove

Your ceramic hob should be cleaned with Cerafix or HG cleaning agent. It is important to clean the hob regularly. If you don’t clean the hob regularly and it becomes very dirty, clean it using a special glass scraper and an intensive hob cleaning agent for ceramic hobs (this is not for daily use!).

Toilet

Please keep the toilet clean by hanging a toilet rim block over the toilet pan, to prevent the buildup of limescale.

Shower

Keep the shower clean by cleaning it at least once a month with an anti-limescale cleaning agent.

Floor

Make sure to regularly clean the floor by vacuuming. Do not forget to vacuum under the heating radiators as dust can build up here.

As a tenant, you are responsible for unclogging the drains in your room that you can reach yourself.

If you notice that the water in the shower tray isn’t draining away fast enough, the drain is probably blocked. Hair and soap residue can build up and prevent the water from draining away properly, which may cause your shower tray to overflow and cause damage.

You can google various easy and low-cost options to unclog your drain. Here is an example:

• Pour a pot of boiling hot water down your drain.
• Dump in about 1/2 c. baking soda. Let that sit for a few minutes.
  Then, pour a mixture of 1 c. vinegar and 1. c very hot water down on top of the baking soda.
• Cover with a drain plug (to keep the reaction down below the drain surface) if you have one and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
• Flush one more time with a pot of boiling water.

You can also use a plunger to unclog the drain.

We advise you to clean your (shower)drain once a week to prevent blockages and leaks. Leaks caused by failure to clean the drain regularly are expensive and will be charged to the tenant. Never use drain clearing granules as this only makes the blockage worse! Make sure to regularly remove hairs from the drains.

We refer you to the General information folder (which can be found on the FAQ page) for an instruction on how to open the shower drain properly.

Send email to info@minvm.nl when this doesn’t help to unclog the drain.

The windows in your apartment have curtains to provide shade from the sun as well as daylight.

The orange blinds outside the apartments should not to be used!

Household trash can be disposed of in the trash container in the back of the parking garage.

There are four thrash bins dedicated to paper/cardboard. These have a grey lid. You are required to cut/fold your boxes and paper, or flatten it before disposing of it in the specific bins.

Glass can be thrown away in the municipality specific glass containers, spread out around the neihgbourhood.

If you have bulky/large waste, you can request this to be picked up by the municipality after you have paid for your “waste tax” (afvalstofheffing). After paying this you can request a personal card, which has a number on it which you can use to order a collection of bulky waste personally.

For a bulky waste pickup appointment, you have to put the waste on the street side yourself, leaving it in the garage will result in a fine.

Your apartment is equipped with a smoke alarm. This alarm should be active 24/7. Do not remove the alarm from the ceiling.

Download the instructions.

Change the battery at least once a year and clean the fire alarm carefully twice a year.

Refer to the General information folder for more information about replacing the batteries and how to clean the smoke detector. A smoke detector can go off for no reason when there is too much dust in it.

There are multiple ways to ventilate your room.

First, you can ventilate your room yourself by opening a window. Due to municipal regulations, the windows facing Torenstraat and Noordwal cannot be opened.

Second, there is a 24/7 mechinal ventilation installation in the room (incl. bathroom).

Third, the radiators also ventilate your room. The radiators are not just heaters but Jaga radiators with Oxygen filters. With the grey/silver push buttons, you can regulate the amount of fresh air in the room. Download the Dutch manual here.

The ventilation grills in the window frames should be closed at all times.

In case you have questions about your utilty consumption, you can call Techem, which is the company that reads the meters in your apartment. You can contact Techem directly on +31 (0)76 57 25 800.

Together with Techem, we are working on rolling out an online tool so you can monitor your consumption. We will inform you about this once we can roll out the tool.

This is nothing to worry about, as the hood is a recirculation hood.  Click here to read more about a recirculation hood.

The cooker hood filter should be replaced twice a year. You can order a new filter online (type of filter: BOSCH DHZ2702 recirculation filter) (e.g. MediaMarkt). Click here for a manual on how to change the cooker hood filter as well as the cooker hood light.

Yes, you may hang things on the wall as long as you don’t drill holes.

If you stick things to the wall you must make sure that no residue remains when you remove them.

When the elevator(s) stop(s) working, you can call the maintenance firm. Their number is on the elevator (+31 (0)900 7900 900). You can also let us know by sending an email to info@minvm.nl.

In the event that somebody is locked inside the elevator, this person can press the yellow phone button to get in touch with the central response center.

Please make sure to mention the elevator number. These are mentioned on the outside of the elevators.

Yes, you should register your address at the municipality.

Inform the municipality when you are moving to Ministerie van Marine. You should arrange your registration within 5 days AFTER moving. You can also register your new address BEFORE moving in already. This is possible up to 4 weeks in advance of the start of your tenancy agreement.

You can register you address online via the The Hague municipality . It is also possible to register by writing the municipality and/or by visiting the municipality (upon appointment!). In the latter case, the municipality will ask for proof, such as your tenancy agreement. Log in on your account to download your tenancy agreement.

Since the 1st of June 2023, you are required to pay the waste taxes (afvalstofheffing) of the municipality. From 01-06-2023 you will be required to pay the municipality taxes, but this will be mostly removed from the service costs, compared to before the previous mentioned date.

For any potential discounts, you can call the number on the tax bill, and see if you are eligible.

You can terminate the contract by sending an email to info@minvm.nl.

You must give at least one calendar months’ notice.

You will have to deliver your room at 10:00 (10AM) on the final day of your tenancy agreement latest. This is the day that your contract ends.

Keep in mind that not delivering your timely, nor clean, nor empty results in additional costs for you, wchih will be deducted from your deposit.

Below, you find a checklist that you can follow in order to deliver your room correctly.

☐ Entirely clean and empty. Do not forget to dust plinths, windowsills, sockets and general surfaces.

☐ All keys (apartment entrance tag, emergency key and a mailbox key, bike entrance key) must be present and locks should be undamaged.

☐ All furniture/attributes on the inventory form must be present and in good condition (Appendix 3 Tenancy Agreement).

• Bedframe(s) and mattress(es)
• cabinets stored under the Bed
• Cupboard
• Table
• Two chairs
• Lounge chair
• Lamp
• Refrigerator
• Cooker hood
• Whiteboard

☐ Every light switch and outlets should be in good condition.

☐ The walls must be white and undamaged.

☐ Every window has to be in good condition.

☐ All tracks of limescale in the bathroom should be removed

☐ The sanitary equipment has to be left at its original place. Including mirror, toilet seat, faucets etc.

☐ The kitchen has to be undamaged and in good condition, including cabinets and drawers.

☐ All stains on the cooker and kitchen counter should be removed.

☐ All spots of limescale should be removed.

☐ Defrost your fridge 12 hours before handing in your key and dispose of any ice and water.

☐ Leave the door of the refrigerator and freezer open.

☐ The kitchen, including all doors, cupboards and drawers, must be left empty.

No, we cannot forward your mail for you.

When moving out, inform the relevant parties that you receive mail from in a timely manner.

In order to receive your mail on your new address, you can inform PostNL to forward your mail. For more information, go to doorzendservice van PostNL.

We advise you to leave a note behind in the mailbox that belongs to your room. On this note, you can mention your email address/phone number/new address. The new tenant can get in touch with you and forward mail. Please note; the new tenant is not required to do so and is not responsible.

In case you have fulfilled your (payment) obligations throughout your tenancy period, we can provide you with a landlord statement. Send us an email to info@minvm.nl with your question.

The emergency staircases are located at/near each end of the building.

They may only be used in case of an emergency. In all other situations, you should use the main staircase or the lift.

For any life-threatening emergencies (e.g. fire), always call 112 (i.e. Dutch emergency number).

For any non-life-threatening emergencies, you can always call 0900 8844 (i.e. Dutch non-emergency number).

For any non-life-threatening urgent matters related to the building (e.g. leakage), you can call 070-2390106. This number is available 24/7.

For other matters or questions, which have not been answered on the website or in the general information folder, we kindly ask you to send us an e-mail to info@minvm.nl