Let us briefly list the main points of future changes in the housing market in the Netherlands:
Major cities want to quickly impose a shopping ban on investors.
This could happen in some cities as early as 2022.
Previously, it was assumed that municipalities would need a year more.
Municipalities want to intervene sooner because the quality of life could deteriorate.
By banning investors from buying up houses, municipalities could seriously intervene in the tight housing market in the Netherlands over the next five years. A law passed by the lower house of parliament in March would allow local councils to prohibit private investors from buying houses to rent.
“It’s a very intrusive tool, but it’s necessary because residents have seen some neighborhoods fall apart,” Rotterdam City Hall housing spokesman Bas Kurvers told reporters. Local authorities in regional cities such as Groningen, Enschede and Maastricht are also looking closely at the idea, but want to do more research on the impact of private rentals first.
Previously, municipalities thought it would take a long time to introduce so-called purchase protection. The mayors of Rotterdam, Eindhoven, The Hague and Haarlem now plan to introduce such a ban for investors no later than the beginning of next year.
With the protection of apartment purchases, cities can take important steps over the next five years to deal with tight and extremely high prices in the Dutch housing market. They can designate areas where investors are no longer allowed to buy cheap rental properties. Buying to rent there is now forbidden.
Investors condemn the intervention of the Dutch authorities. The Dutch central bank has also previously criticized the measure. Buy-to-let protection would not be a structural solution to the shortage in the housing market, but could actually increase the shortage of rental houses in the free sector. Thus, rents could rise further.