Dutch Lifestyle
There’s not enough housing in the Netherlands and,
The Netherlands has strong protections in place for tenants. But if you’re not familiar with the rules, you don’t know what your rights are.
what is available, is too expensive. It’s a common complaint among not just internationals living in the Netherlands, but also the Dutch themselves.
“I had no idea what the rules were,” says Margaret Collins*, a UK national who lives in Amsterdam in an apartment which is in the process of being re-classified as social housing. She initially rented the apartment on the private market and later, asked !WOON, a non-profit organisation which provides information to tenants about their rights, to look into whether the rent on her apartment was fair.
Social housing BY MOLLY QUELL
Public Sector vs. Private Sector Rent
The Netherlands has two systems for renting: the private market, which is for more expensive properties and has fewer regulations, or a social housing dwelling, which is less expensive and aimed at people with lower incomes.
However, the Dutch government has been involved in providing affordable housing in the country for well over 100 years. The system, known as sociale huurwoningen, or social housing, is often maligned and frequently misunderstood.
After investigating, !WOON felt Collins was being overcharged for rent and helped her take her case to the Huurcommissie (Rent Commission), a government organisation that mediates landlord-tenant disputes. Collins won a rent reduction of €300 per month, which is retroactive. “My landlord now owes me around €6,000,” she says. Anyone who wants to appeal their rent must do so within six months of signing their lease. Just because she won, however, doesn’t mean everything worked Did you k now.. out well for Collins. “Now my landlord Housin . g asso ciatio also r is trying to evict me,” she says. Though n s are espon sible fo parks r lo cal , spor having your rent lowered is not grounds ts fac ilities and p arking for eviction, she’s looking for a new place in the area. to live.
PHOTO: MINGO HAGEN
Point System
32 | ACCESS | SUMMER 2019
The Dutch government sets the maximum rent that can be charged in social housing, which is €720.42 in 2019. This maximum applies not just to dwellings owned by housing corporations but also by individual landlords. The government uses a point system based on size and amenities to determine if a home qualifies as social housing.