Selling social housing is changing Amsterdam. ‘All the poor are being pushed out of the city’ The number of social rented homes in Amsterdam is rapidly declining. Sold social housing soon reappears on the market at a considerably higher price. The sale of social housing in large cities, especially Amsterdam, has been a sensitive issue…
Minister wants to put longer hold on private sector rent increase Minister De Jonge wants to extend the law that caps annual rent increases in the free sector. In this way, he wants to prevent rents from rising sharply next year. An initiative bill by Henk Nijboer of the PvdA put a cap on annual…
House of Parliament pause hinders approach to housing crisis The Woonbond is calling on the Lower House to, among other things, deal with the Affordable Rent Act quickly and not postpone it. The fall of the cabinet threatens to bog down the approach to the housing crisis. ‘Tenants and house seekers cannot wait for elections…
Buyout protection helps first-time buyers Lobbyists from the real estate sector are beating around the bush wildly to block the Affordable Rent Act. Meanwhile, municipalities are deploying the buyout ban to ensure that houses are not snatched from the noses of first-time buyers by investors and then rented out expensively. The private landlord lobby is…
Tenant insufficiently informed about service charges Tenants receive insufficient information about service costs. A quarter do not even receive an annual statement of these costs, while landlords are legally obliged to provide such a statement. A poll of 501 Woonbond members shows that landlords need to better inform their tenants about service costs. Of the…
Housing associations can pay for plans for the time being Housing associations can still finance their plans until 2030, but in the long term they will have too little money to finance all the necessary plans for new construction, sustainability and liveability. This is according to new calculations by the Ministry of the Interior (Housing)…
Tenants and Woonbond in action against exorbitant rents The Woonbond is taking up the fight against usurious rents with a new campaign. The huge growth of the free rental sector has led to exorbitant rents. This has left tenants and house seekers with their backs against the wall, which is why the free sector needs…
Objection to rent increase after drop in income Are you getting a rent increase of 50 or 100 euros this year even though your income has fallen? Then check whether you can object. And did you know you can still have the increase adjusted up to three years after the fact? If you are a…
Notice of rent reduction before 1 June Are you entitled to a one-off rent reduction but still haven’t received a rent reduction proposal? Contact your landlord. And go to the Rent Commission if you can’t work things out with your landlord. Corporation tenants with a low income and a high rent are entitled to a…
Broad support for regulation of high rents An overwhelming majority of Dutch people think the government should intervene in rents when they become too high for the average Dutchman and disproportionate to the quality of the home. This is according to a recent flash poll the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations commissioned among…
Beware of maximum price under points system Did you receive a rent increase of 50 or 100 euros this year? Then make sure your rent is not higher than allowed under the point system. Many social tenants with a slightly higher income will have to deal with it (again) this year: an income-related rent increase…
Housing associations apply income-related rent increase Research by the Woonbond shows that almost 40 per cent of housing associations in the Netherlands apply income-related rent increases. While this policy should encourage people to move on, many tenants cannot find another home at all. This puts them at a financial disadvantage. Moreover, tenants get this rent…