Parents who buy a home for their child, but forget to apply for the mandatory landlord permit, will from now on be dealt with less harshly by the municipality of Groningen. Until recently they were fined many thousands of euros for this.
The municipality of Groningen has been taking tough action against illegal rental since last year. She mainly wants to tackle pawnbrokers in a tight housing market. Buying a home for your children – the first-line family – is allowed, but only with a landlord’s permit. If you do not request this, the municipality of Groningen will issue an ‘administrative fine’.
This cost Harry de Jonge from Haren, among others, dearly. He bought a house in Haren for his mentally disabled daughter, because the care organization Cosis had no living space for her in the village. But De Jonge had not applied for a landlord’s permit and therefore, to his astonishment, a fine of 12,500 euros was imposed.
Fine policy has been evaluated
And De Jonge is not the only one. In 2023, the municipality of Groningen imposed a total of 80 of these fines. Some of the fines are commercial in nature and some are addressed to private individuals such as De Jonge, who did not have a permit due to ignorance. The property owners objected to half of all fines and 14 of those objections were actually dealt with during a hearing by an objection committee. Almost all objectors were proven right during the hearing.
The municipality of Groningen has now evaluated the fine policy and concluded that the fines will be reduced in cases such as that of De Jonge. “From now on, we will deal with a violation that can be legalized by applying for a permit penalty of 250 euros,” says housing councilor Rik van Niejenhuis (PvdA). “That could previously have been a fine of a few thousand euros.”
‘Take our hearts’
A number of parents complained about the administrative fines in this newspaper last autumn. “In many cases, it subsequently concerned matters that could be legalized with a permit application,” Van Niejenhuis acknowledges about those stories. “So then the fines will be moderated.”
De Jonge has not heard anything from the municipality since the end of last year, says the Haren resident. But he is happy and relieved that Groningen is changing its policy. “When we knew we had to get the permit, we had it arranged within two days,” he says. “I would be very happy if we could settle it with 250 euros. That really means a lot to us.”
The municipality will maintain the measure with administrative fines for landlords, especially for major violations and to tackle pawnbrokers. According to Van Niejenhuis, the fines make a positive contribution to reducing illegal situations.
Tags: fines parents rent house city child permit hearts Harry Haren
