This week the House of Representatives will vote on a law by outgoing minister Hugo de Jonge. The law would mean that many landlords would have to significantly reduce the rent, including in Amsterdam. Supporters say that this is desperately needed, but critics fear that landlords will sell en masse – making the private rental sector even smaller and more expensive.
AT5
Most people in Amsterdam seem to agree that something must be done to keep prices in check on the housing market. Both purchase and rental prices have risen further in recent years. The result: it is increasingly difficult, especially for middle groups, to find a house in the city. In the private sector, it is often urgent for starters and newcomers.
947 euros for a room
Yoav Weinberg, student of constitutional and administrative law at the UvA, can discuss this. He now lives in a student studio. But: “I’ll finish studying in September, and then I won’t be allowed to stay here for very long.” The waiting times are too long for a housing association, and he does not earn enough for an owner-occupied home.
Weinberg’s only option: a rental house in the private sector. He suspects that he will have to share an apartment with friends. And even then he may have to pay a lot, he fears: “I think I will certainly spend 1,250 euros per month.” That is not an unrealistic estimate: the average rental price of an Amsterdam room is according to Kamernet.nl 947 euros. Nowhere else in our country is that price so high.
Affordable Rent Act
Housing Minister Hugo de Jonge has an ambitious plan to partly regulate rents in the private sector. If this Affordable Rent Act is passed, hundreds of thousands of rental properties will suddenly no longer fall into the private sector. These rents are then no longer determined by the free market, but by the points system of the housing valuation system (WWS).
Liberalization limit and the housing valuation system
Whether your house falls into the private sector depends on how many points the house receives in the WWS. The larger, more energy efficient and fancier the house, the more points – that’s basically what it comes down to. The popularity of the neighborhood also plays a role.
It is currently the case that a house with 147 or fewer points has a legal maximum rent. Does the house have more points? Then the market determines the price and the landlord can ask whatever he or she wants. But if the law is passed, that limit will increase significantly.
| Current situation | Affordable Rent Act | |
| Liberalization limit | 147 points | 186 points |
| Maximum rent regulated sector | €879.66* | ± €1100,- |
*: price level liberalization limit 2024, this was lower in previous years
What does that mean?
Houses that have between 148 and 186 points are still in the private sector. In Amsterdam, for example, this concerns older, smaller apartments in popular neighborhoods such as De Baarsjes, de Pijp and Indische Buurt. On the open market, a couple can easily pay 1,800 euros for an apartment of 55 square meters in these neighborhoods. The price of these types of apartments would therefore fall sharply.
Calculate how many points your home has? This can be done on the website of the !WOON Foundation.
Assistant Professor of Public Housing Barend Wind is positive about De Jonge’s law. He points to the figures from it WIA research which was published last week. “A quarter of the houses in the expensive segment are occupied by people who actually cannot afford them.” The police officer, the healthcare worker, the teacher: it is the classic middle groups that will benefit from the lower rents, says Wind.
Popular law
Wind is not alone in his enthusiasm: one research from tenant interest group Woonbond states that 77 percent of Dutch voters would support such a law. It is likely that support will also be strong in Amsterdam: in recent years there have been reports that the rents are particularly high here exploded. In Amsterdam, the popularity of the average landlord is therefore comparable to that of a glass of spoiled milk. It is therefore not surprising that most private investors did not want to be mentioned by name in an article.
Betty Tania-Kalf, head of commerce at AHAM Vastgoed, wants that. She is not afraid of negative reactions. “Someone who knows me knows what I stand for and that we do very nice things.” AHAM has been in Amsterdam real estate for almost 120 years. “Our only shareholder is a foundation. Its main objective is to provide development cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa. 25 percent of our cash flow goes there.”
Plummeting rental prices
Tania-Kalf gives a tour of an apartment that AHAM bought and renovated two years ago. 35 square meters, located on the top floor between the Vondelpark and the Schinkel, with a spacious west-facing balcony. There is oak on the floor and all the equipment still shines with newness. “This was for rent for 1,500 euros, but if the law passes, that will drop to 1,000 euros.” This makes the house an expense for AHAM.
About 500 of AHAM’s 2,150 houses are affected by De Jonge’s law. This will allow AHAM to invest 100 million euros less over the next ten years. “That is equivalent to three hundred mid-rental homes,” explains AHAM director Tim van Schijndel. “The same applies to colleagues at other companies. This law increases the real problem: the housing shortage caused by the government.” Van Schijndel believes that proponents of the law pay too little attention to the consequences.
“The moment you start to suffer a loss, you have no other choice”
In the worst case, AHAM will have to switch to separate sales: real estate jargon for selling an empty rental house. “We have already done that with this house,” says Tania-Kalf. The apartment was for sale for 385,000 euros but was sold for 440,000. It is difficult for Tania-Kalf. “We are a landlord. Not a seller or trader. But when you start to make a loss, you have no other choice.” It is the first time that AHAM has listed an Amsterdam house on Funda.
Critics of the law say more investors will choose to sell their homes. According to a research published by ESB, an influential economic policy journal, this is already happening. In 2023, landlords sold 6,800 more homes than they bought. “A reversal of the development between 2016 and 2020, when there was a buying wave,” the researchers write.
“Only a small portion of investors will actually sell”
And who will buy those vacant rental houses? Many starters in Amsterdam are still in trouble, says real estate advisor CBRE. In a report CBRE calculates that the average retail property in Amsterdam costs more than 430,000 euros. But a single young starter in Amsterdam can borrow less than 310,000 euros on average. Couples or richer starters still have a chance, but they still have to compete with people with higher incomes.
Public housing lecturer Wind thinks that things will not progress that quickly. “It is expected that only a small portion of investors will actually sell.”
Moreover, private investors have bought up many houses in recent years, partly due to the attractive profits that could be made on the open rental market. The fact that they now have to sell is not an immediate problem for supporters of the law.
Supply must grow
In any case, Tania-Kalf and Wind agree on one thing: a permanent reduction in the price of rental and owner-occupied houses will only start if much more is built. “We have to build affordably for a very broad target group,” says Wind. “We should actually go back to classic public housing.”
Tania-Kalf points out that, thanks to private investors, tens of thousands of houses have been built in Amsterdam in recent years – also for mid-range rent. “While corporations were not able to do that, due to the landlord levy. So we are part of the solution.”
Amsterdam tenants mainly hope that rents will go down – and quickly. Student Yoav Weinberg thinks the law will help with this. “It would be positive if rents actually fell. That is a way to cater to a group that is much less wealthy than the landlords: the tenants.”
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