Tenants and housing associations are in the dark about the height of the rents

Residents of social rental properties received a letter for the outcome of the Spring Memorandum with an announcement of future rent increases. That must be done every year before 1 May. But those increases are no longer ahead, because the coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB decided to freeze the social rents for this and next year during the negotiations of the Spring Memorandum.

The cabinet cannot yet clarify tenants and corporations about the precise elaboration of this plan, was evident on Wednesday evening a residential debate about the rent freezing. For example, it has not yet been decided for which tenants the freezing will apply. The coalition could not say whether this will only apply to tenants of housing associations, or also for the 400,000 people in a social rental home of private landlords.

Housing corporations warned that the construction of new rental properties could stop due to a reduced investment capacity. The cabinet then announced a compensation of 1.1 billion euros, but that is not yet an accomplished fact. Moreover, that will not be enough, state corporations.

‘Rental freezing is construction freezing’

Last week the Coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB decided in the Spring Memorandum not to increase the social rent for this and next year. The coalition also wants to relax the affordable rent law. Last year, that law started a maximum for rental prices for medium rental properties in the private rental sector. With the rental freezing, the costs for social tenants are illuminated, the idea behind it is.

Possibly there is a political exchange between the VVD and PVV. The PVV would like to lower the rents and the VVD does not want to limit the rental market. But Responsible Minister Mona Keijzer of Volkshuisvesting (BBB) ​​is skeptical about the rental freezing, she said in the debate on Wednesday. The compensation scheme of 1.1 billion put on the table by the coalition parties is called ‘very limited’ and insufficient to compensate for the investment capacity of corporations.

Keijzer himself was not present during negotiations about the Spring Memorandum, where party leaders of the coalition discussed, but as a residential minister she will have to offer that clarity in the coming weeks. ,, Would I have preferred to see this differently? Yes of course, but that is not the question that is before, « said Keijzer after the outcome of the Spring Memorandum.

It is striking that Merlien Welzijn, NSC MP and spokesperson for Housing for her party, critically expresses himself about the freezing. She reported sick last week and expressed her dissatisfaction about the measure on Thursday morning in a message via Linked. She was « stupid and surprised, » she says there. « After all, rental freezing is construction freezing. »

Opposition parties find the compensation scheme much too skinny and state that housing is locked with this. In the debate, they repeatedly point to the cabinet’s previously made agreements during the WoonTop in December. At that time it was agreed to build at least 100,000 homes annually until 2030.

But the coalition parties did not believe in the « disaster scenarios » that outlines the opposition. VVD MP Peter de Groot said that corporations have « perhaps 70 to 80 billion » in the greenhouse. « So there is really something else. » De Groot referred to the remaining investment capacity of the housing corporations for the next ten years, which the Association of Housing Corporations Aedes announced.

Loan capacity

But housing associations have little financial exercise space according to Johan Conijn, emeritus-professor of housing market at the University of Amsterdam and director at Financial Advice Office Finance Ideas. There is « nothing at all » of the statement that corporations still have 70 to 80 billion euros as reserves, he says.

According to him, there is too little money for new construction. To build, corporations must borrow everything, says Conijn. Corporations use rental income for maintenance, home improvement and to cover taxes and interest on loans. But if that income is too low, corporations are not allowed to take out new loans for future projects, he explains. And then construction comes to a halt, is the great fear of housing associations. That while they indicated that they wanted to borrow maximum last December to build to tackle the home crisis.

The effects of the rental freezing will only notice corporations from 2027 in their greenhouse, but the rental freezing now has consequences for their building plans, says Conijn. Due to the rental freezing, housing corporations from 2027 are more short of more than 1 billion euros annually. With that knowledge, corporations cannot take out future loans, he says.

Because corporations miss out on more than 1 billion euros annually, their investment capacity drops by 49 billion euros, feature Aedes known this week. « That is the total amount that corporations can no longer borrow in the next ten years, » says Conijn. The rent freezing already has consequences, because loans for the future may no longer be taken out. Conijn: « The shadows are immediately thrown forward. » As a result, Aedes expects at least 170,000 of the planned 254,000 homes to be built in the coming ten years.

According to the Aedes trade association, 170,000 of the planned 254,000 homes cannot be built in the coming ten years

In the absence of clarity, housing associations made it to be calculated this week. For example, overall housing corporation Association Social Landers Haaglanden (SVH) expects to be able to build only seven to eight thousand houses for the next ten years, including in The Hague and Delft, instead of the planned fifteen thousand, says Zakaria El Khetabi. « We were already financially crowded, so the news about the rental freezing came to us as a bomb. »

Housing corporation DeltaWonen outlines the same type of scenario. The corporation estimated that of the eight thousand homes that would be built according to plan in West-Overijssel, half would not continue.

Uncertainty

Minister Keijzer stated on Wednesday evening to be ‘very motivated’ in the debate to map the consequences of the rent freezing as soon as possible. She will investigate whether the intended 1.1 billion in compensation is sufficient.

The Woonbond reported To be flooded on Thursday by questions from tenants from the social sector about the sudden rental freez. Martijn Sweitser, director of living of DeltaWonen, recognizes that uncertainty: the housing association had already reported a large part of its tenants about the upcoming rent increases. « Tenants do not understand where they stand, » says Sweitser, « and we can’t offer them a definitive answer. »

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