In association with
Omrop Friesland
NOS News•today, 10:53
Outgoing Minister De Jonge has rebuffed a corporation that wanted to sell a number of senior complexes in Leeuwarden. The minister believes that the housing association should only sell if there is certainty about the number of homes for the elderly in the Frisian capital.
The minister’s ‘sales ban’ is a setback for housing association Habion.
Habion says it only wants to be active in municipalities where the “absolute demand for housing for the elderly is greatest”. And Leeuwarden is not one of them, says Habion. So four complexes with a total of 241 homes for vulnerable elderly people were recently offered for sale. With the expected proceeds, Habion wanted to build new homes elsewhere in the country, especially in the west.
1100 houses are needed
The municipality of Leeuwarden and tenant platform Nieuw Elan have opposed Habion’s sales plans from the start. They point out that there is a great need for (senior) homes in Leeuwarden. They also mention a figure: 1,100 houses should be added to the city over the next ten years.
The municipality has tried to find a middle ground. The council asked Habion to rebuild the 241 units that would disappear with the sale of the complexes and to add another 400 new homes. But according to Omrop Fryslân, Habion didn’t care about that.
The municipality then asked the minister to freeze the ‘sales process’. De Jonge now does this in a binding advice. It states: “It may be expected that Habion will still be in consultation with the municipality and Nieuw Elan a set of agreements is reached in which adequate consideration has been given to the public housing task and the absorption of the negative effects of the departure.”
Complicated question
Councilor Hein de Haan reacts happily to the minister’s advice. But he does wonder what the solution is. “Contributing, but also leaving. How? That is a complicated question.” The councilor says that there is no other option than to sit down together. “We must now make a new attempt to see whether we can reach agreements,” said De Haan.
“My preference is that social housing remains in the hands of social housing associations,” the councilor continues. In any case, he does not want to do business with a private investor because there would be no guarantee that the elderly residents would receive the care they are entitled to.
Habion acknowledges that the talks are difficult and that it is good that the minister has made a statement. The corporation says in a written response that the application for the sales permit has been ‘voluntarily’ stopped, but does not elaborate on the consequences.
