Tenants

Altera invests in residential and retail properties on behalf of various institutional investors, a significant portion of which are Dutch pension funds. Pension funds invest in real estate, such as homes and retail spaces, to provide pensions for current and future retirees. On behalf of these pension funds, Altera has built a portfolio of approximately 6,000 rental homes and various retail properties. We do not rent out our homes and retail spaces directly; this is managed by property managers on our behalf. All contact with our current and prospective tenants and retail tenants is handled through these property managers. For inquiries regarding availability or rental prices of our homes or retail spaces, please reach out to them.

Altera has outsourced the daily management of its rental and retail properties to external property managers, who are responsible for matters such as daily maintenance, reletting and general tenant issues. Your property manager is up to date on the  daily management of your residence and any relevant issues, and is best suited to help you with any questions you may have. If you would still prefer to contact Altera directly, we kindly request that you send an email to: info@altera.nl.

As a landlord, we work hard to further enhance the sustainability of our homes and retail spaces to reduce energy consumption. A well-insulated home or retail space provides greater comfort. Our goal is for 100% of our properties to have a green energy label (A, B, or C) by 2025. Currently, this stands at 99%.

Additionally, we aim for more than 80% of homes and retail spaces to have an A-label by 2025. We prioritize making the less sustainable properties more energy-efficient first. This includes installing double glazing and insulation. Solar panels have been installed on the roofs of all single-family homes. We also invest heavily in sustainable technologies, such as aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES), a form of clean energy that offers greater comfort. In the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), the Altera Fund achieved the maximum score of 5 out of 5 stars in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

For more information on sustainability, go to: /en/about-altera/csr.

Your property manager can terminate your lease for you.

Please keep the following in mind:

• a lease is for at least 12 full calendar months
• the notice period is at least one calendar month
• cancellations always take effect from the first day of the calendar month
• As the departing tenant of a home in the regulated sector (social housing and mid-range rental sector), you may not suggest a prospective tenant for the home you are leaving behind.

Altera has outsourced the daily management of its rental and retail properties to external property managers, who are responsible for matters such as daily maintenance, reletting and general tenant issues. Your property manager is up to date on the  daily management of your residence and any relevant issues, and is best suited to help you with any questions you may have. If you would still prefer to contact Altera directly, we kindly request that you send an email to: info@altera.nl.

If you have any questions about the contents of your rental agreement or if you would like to have your agreement amended because you are planning to cohabitate for example, then please contact the property manager for your rental home. They will be able to provide you with information about the terms and conditions associated with changes to your rental agreement.

Are you renting an apartment? Then you pay a monthly advance for your service charges. This advance is for charges associated with the cleaning of communal areas, electricity usage in communal areas, glass insurance and garden maintenance.

Once a year, your property manager will draw up a service-charge settlement. This overview will clearly show the amount of the costs incurred in regard to communal areas and the amount of the advances charged to you, and whether the actual costs are higher or lower than the total advances paid by you. In the event that the total actual costs are lower, you will receive the excess amount from your property manager. In the event that the total actual costs are higher, then you will receive a request to pay the excess amount.

If you have any questions related to the service charges for your apartment, please contact your property manager.

Please note: There are no service charges associated with single-family homes.

Your rent always needs to be paid before the first of every month. You can find the bank account number to transfer your monthly rent to in your rental agreement for example.

Please note: the rent must always be paid from an account number that bears the name of a tenant (no third parties).

If you have any questions related to the payment of rent, if you wish to change your bank account number with us, or if you have any questions about rent payment arrears, then please contact your property manager.

Tenants cannot purchase homes from Altera. We invest in Dutch real estate mainly for Dutch pension funds. These parties have a long-term strategy on which we base our policy of keeping housing complexes in our portfolio for the long term.

Are you expecting problems with paying your rent? Then please inform your property manager as quickly as possible. They can help you find a home that is more suitable for your financial situation. If this does not result in a solution and you are more than 30 days behind in paying your rent, then we will be required to inform the municipality of your payment arrears. The municipality will then invite you to a meeting to discuss debt assistance.

On 1 January 2021, the amendment to the Municipal Debt Assistance Act took effect. This amendment is intended to prevent a new debt or rent payment arrears from becoming a problematic debt. Specifically, this amendment means that your property manager – for rent payment arrears of more than 30 days – must share your contact information and the amount of your rent payment arrears with the municipality. The municipality will then invite you to a meeting. As a result, our collection procedure will be temporarily suspended. Of course we do not take sharing your information lightly. The following steps must be taken before we take this action:

1. you have been contacted regarding the options for solving and preventing
   payment arrears;
2. you have been informed of the debt assistance options;
3. you have received at least one written reminder;
4. you have been given the option of having your contact information and rent payment arrears information shared with the municipality and you did not respond negatively to this news.

If you object to informing the municipality, then the early intervention procedure will end and our standard collection procedure will commence.

For more information, click on the link below: Questions and answers regarding the amendment to the Municipal Debt Assistance Act (Gemeentelijke  Schuldhulpverlening (VNG))

To help tenants avoid rent payment arrears, Altera has taken out a subscription with Nibud (the National Institute for Family Finance Information). Nibud is an
independent centre for expertise and advice in the area of household finances.
Nibud has a website with information on how to sensibly manage money. In addition to money-saving tips, the site includes budgeting plans for specific target groups (such as retirees for example) or for households with changes to their domestic situation.

Tenants are pro-actively informed of the existence of this website. Using the login details shared by Altera, budgeting plans can be used anonymously and privacy is guaranteed.

We have outsourced the daily management of our retail space to professional external management companies. These companies take care of the upkeep, maintenance requests, individual letting transactions and rent administration.

We also use external managers on site and local brokers to let our retail spaces. Of course you can also contact us.

Our retail team also includes colleagues with the skills necessary to market a new shopping centre and attract the attention of potential consumers. Ellen Siebring, our marketing manager for retail, is happy to get involved in marketing campaigns, events and promotion activities or offer advice on the retail format.