Maintenance and renovation for landlords and HOAs in Nieuwegein

An empty rental property earns nothing. Between two tenants the home has to be back in order quickly, and during a tenancy the list of complaints grows that you do not want to work through yourself. I work for landlords and owners’ associations in Nieuwegein and the towns around it. I do the work myself, from demolition and pipework to tiling, plastering, flooring and carpentry, and I regularly bring help along when a job calls for it. If you call about the bathroom and the room next to it needs doing as well, you talk to me.

Who rents in Utrecht and Nieuwegein

If you let a home or a room here, you are letting into a market that mostly turns on two things: study and work.

Students. In the 2024-2025 academic year about 67,500 higher education students studied in Utrecht, 6,800 of them from abroad, plus around 16,900 vocational (mbo) students. The shortage of student housing in the city stood at 4,400 that year, with an average search time of 5.3 months. For a room in a complex of student housing provider SSH, the average registration time was 46 months. That is in the student housing covenant 2025-2030 of the municipality, Utrecht University, HU University of Applied Sciences and SSH (read on 27-10-2026). HU alone had more than 35,900 students in 2025 (HU in figures 2025). With a shortage like that, what counts most is that a room is ready again quickly between two tenants.

Work. More than 31,000 people work at Utrecht Science Park, home to the university and UMC Utrecht. UMC Utrecht calls itself the largest employer in the region, with more than 12,000 staff. Rabobank has its office on the Croeselaan in Utrecht and NS, the Dutch railways, its head office on the Laan van Puntenburg. Nieuwegein itself is home to St. Antonius Hospital, where nearly 6,400 people work across its Nieuwegein and Utrecht locations (annual report 2025).

Internationals. In 2022 more than 21,000 international knowledge workers lived in the province of Utrecht. After the city of Utrecht and Amersfoort, the largest group lived in Nieuwegein: 1,035, according to the monitor of internationals by the International Welcome Centre Utrecht Region (April 2024). If you want to let furnished, I furnish the home or room; see furnishing a rental property.

If you let a home in Utrecht to more than three people who each have their own household, the municipality requires a conversion permit (Utrecht municipality, house sharing, in Dutch, read on 27-10-2026). What that means for the building work is on renovating a rental property. Whether the rules apply to your property is something you check with the municipality; I build what is allowed.

Five kinds of work for landlords and HOAs

Renovating. Making a home or a few rooms ready to let: bathroom, toilet, kitchen, floors and walls. What that involves is on the page about renovating a rental property.

Between two tenants. Walls, floor, sanitary ware and sealant back in order after the tenant has left. See turnover maintenance.

Furnishing. A room or studio ready for the next tenant, with a bed, wardrobes, a kitchenette and lights.

Repairs and maintenance. You call me and we agree up front what is included. That is under property maintenance.

For an owners’ association. Small maintenance jobs on the shared parts of the building, as the regular handyman of the association or its managing agent. I do not draw up a long-term maintenance plan. See HOA maintenance.

One point of contact for the whole property

A bathroom consists of demolition, pipework, tiling, sanitary ware and finishing. When those sit with several parties, one waits for the other and nobody is responsible for the whole. With me it is in one pair of hands: I do the tiling, the sanitary ware, the drainage and the finishing myself. If you have several rooms in a property, the work runs on in the same schedule, and you get that schedule up front.

Agreeing up front what is included

With a landlord, the person who reports the problem is usually the tenant, and the person who pays is the owner. That is where the hassle starts afterwards: who ordered this, is this included? That is why I agree up front what I do, what I do not do and what happens if the job turns out bigger. I usually buy the building materials myself, so you do not have to chase them.

If something on your list is easy to do yourself, I will tell you.

Who pays for what: landlord or tenant

As a rule of thumb, major maintenance is for the landlord, small everyday maintenance for the tenant, and damage the tenant has caused is for the tenant. Which small repairs are the tenant’s is set out in the Besluit kleine herstellingen (Minor Repairs Decree, in Dutch, read on 27-10-2026). Exactly who pays for what follows from the law and your tenancy agreement. I do not judge that. What I do is build the quote per item, so you can decide per item who pays.

What you can see of my work

The clearest example is a house I converted into separate rental rooms, each room with its own shower, kitchenette, wardrobe and bed.

When you need me for a whole home

If it is a full renovation of a home, with demolition, pipework and a new layout, read more under renovation. If it is separate small jobs in a rental home, a tap, a sticking door or a sealant edge, that is under handyman and maintenance.

Where I work

Nieuwegein is my base. For properties in Utrecht, IJsselstein, Houten and Vianen you can call me too. If your property is somewhere else, just ask.

Send the address, what is going on and a few photos through the contact page. Then you hear what I would do and what I want to see first.