Disputes over rent increases remain a major pain point for tenants in Luxembourg’s private rental market, but the bodies meant to mediate such conflicts, rent commissions, are often absent or inactive, the housing minister has admitted.
A study published in May by the University of Luxembourg and the Ministry of Housing highlighted tenants’ frustrations with questionable rent hikes and deposit disputes.
In theory, rent committees (Commission des Loyers) in each commune are supposed to mediate in such cases, but a parliamentary question from déi Gréng MP Meris Sehovic has revealed that the system is patchy and poorly monitored.
Housing Minister Claude Meisch admitted that his ministry only has data from municipalities with fewer than 6,000 inhabitants.
Larger municipalities are responsible for establishing their own rent committees, but several have yet to set them up despite a legal framework dating back to 2006.
There are currently no penalties for failing to comply, Meisch said on Tuesday in response to the written parliamentary question.
According to Meisch, some municipalities delay forming committees until a specific dispute arises, while others have struggled to fill expert positions for such bodies.
Between 2020 and 2025, the ministry recorded just 31 cases involving rent committees in smaller municipalities.
In four instances, landlords were found to have charged rents above the legal ceiling, which is capped at five percent of the invested capital since 2006.
“The government will examine the possibility of reforming the legislation on rental committees as part of the revision of residential tenancy law,” the minister said.
(This article was originally published by the Luxemburger Wort. Translated using AI, with editing and adaptation by Kabir Agarwal)