Public Housing Minister Hugo de Jonge presented the House for All program to the House of Representatives. The goal of the program is to provide the maximum number of people in the Netherlands with affordable housing. According to the minister, people with an average income are forced to choose between a decent standard of living and quality housing, and those who have incomes below the average, after paying rent, often do not have enough money to live on. The government program is designed to solve this problem by building affordable housing and regulating the average level of rent. Let's find out what the government program for middle-income people proposes to do.
40% of new housing should be built for people with an average income
The government's housing program calls for a total of 2030 new homes to be built by 900. The government insists that up to 000% of new housing be built for people with average incomes. For this category of residents of the country, 40 new houses should be calculated from the entire planned volume of construction.
Increasing supply in the housing market will improve the position of buyers. Additional opportunities will open before them the use of new solutions for the organization of the purchase. If you turn to municipalities, housing associations, developers, you will be able to find the best housing in terms of price / quality ratio. In addition, it is worth using well-established platforms for the purchase of housing - for example, KoopStart.
By issuing permits for the commissioning of new houses, municipalities can decide to provide affordable housing for people with average incomes.
Regulation of medium-term rent
To protect tenants from the bad faith of homeowners who overestimate the cost of rent, the government plans to introduce regulation of rental rates. The point system for assessing housing will determine its real value, on the basis of which the maximum rent will be set. The upper limit of the rent subject to regulation has not yet been set. It is expected that it will be in the range of 1000 to 1250 euros.
For the housing market to work, it is necessary that people with an average income pay rent, but this payment must be affordable. In order to establish a reasonable regulatory system, the municipalities of Utrecht, Zwolle and Doetinchem are studying the effects of various regulatory options, in particular on the construction of new housing with average rents. According to the results of the research, the scheme of regulation in this sector of the economy will be determined. It is assumed that for people with an average income living in low-cost social housing, rent supplements can be established corresponding to their level of income.
The government is negotiating and entering into agreements with rental market operators such as Aedes, VNG and IPO. The new social tenancy agreement with Aedes and Woonbond is expected to include a cap on the annual maximum allowable rent increase.
Making it easier to get housing benefits
The existing system of assigning housing allowances does not allow people in need to receive them promptly. The government intends to simplify the receipt of housing benefits, for which normalized rental rates are introduced. After their introduction, the estimated amount of rent used in the assignment of benefits will not be related to the actual cost of rent. Tenants will be able to receive state benefits in accordance with income and pay the difference to the landlord from their own funds. This will open up benefits to a significant number of tenants who are not currently eligible. In addition, the minimum age for housing allowance recipients will be reduced from 23 to 21.
Improving the protection of the rights of buyers and tenants
It is planned to introduce a National Standard for Fair and Responsible Tenant Management, according to which landlords in the regulated sector must not exceed the maximum rent established by the results of housing appraisals. When purchasing homes, a transparent bidding process must be used so that brokers do not overcharge. It is necessary to certify auctions and keep a Register of proposals received from real estate agents.
The government anticipates that the Home for All bill will be ready by the end of 2022 and will come into effect in 2024. The standard rent will be introduced gradually over five years.
Learn about which arrangements to protect the housing rights of people with incomes below average, the government intends to introduce.
Publication Date: 08.06.2022
