In 2022 the Dutch government introduced several new regulations intended to stimulate the availability of affordable housing and to limit increases in rent levels in the residential market. This alert contains a summary of the most important regulations.
BUY-TO-LET RESTRICTIONS
In an attempt to discourage investors from buying up owner-occupied homes in areas with a scarcity of affordable housing, the Dutch government on 1 January 2022 effected legislation allowing municipalities to ban the letting out of formerly owner-occupied homes.[1]
Several municipalities have done so. The city of Amsterdam introduced a ban on the letting out of formerly owner-occupied homes with a listed value of up to EUR 512,000, representing approximately 60% of owner-occupied homes in Amsterdam. Buyers of owner-occupied homes in The Hague and certain areas of Rotterdam with a listed value of less than EUR 355,000 are also banned from letting out their properties. The same is true for homes in Utrecht, with a listed value of less than EUR 487,000.
LIMITATIONS ON RENTAL INCREASES
In the regulated housing sector, with initial rents of up to EUR 763, a Covid-era freeze on rent levels was replaced with a system of income-dependent rental increases:[2]
Single-person households | Multi-person households | Maximum rent increase |
Incomes up to EUR 47,948 | Incomes up to EUR 55,486 | Rents below EUR 300: EUR 25 Rents above EUR 300: 2,3 % |
Incomes between EUR 47,948 and EUR 56,527 | Incomes between EUR 55,486 and EUR 75,369 | EUR 50 |
Incomes higher than EUR 56,527 | Incomes higher than EUR 75,369 | EUR 100 |
Other newly introduced legislation limits the role of the listed value of homes in the regulated sector, in the calculation of the permitted initial rent. The points awarded to the listed value are now maximized at 33% of the total.[3]
As a first, new legislation also introduces temporary rent-hike restrictions in the previously unregulated housing market of leases with an initial rent of more than EUR 763. From 1 January 2022 until May 2024 annual rent increases in this sector are limited to inflation plus 1%-point.[4] An evaluation and decision on a possible extension of this restriction is expected before the end of 2024.
[1] Wet van 7 juli 2021 tot wijziging van de Huisvestingswet 2014, de Woningwet, Boek 7 van het Burgerlijk Wetboek en de Overgangswet nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek naar aanleiding van de evaluatie van de herziene Woningwet en om de mogelijkheden voor tijdelijke huurovereenkomsten te verruimen.
[2] Besluit huurverhoging gereguleerde sector 2022
[3] Bij besluit tot wijziging van Bijlage I bij het Besluit huurprijzen woonruimte (maximering aandeel punten WOZ-waarde in woningwaardering.
[4] Wet maximering huurprijsverhogingen geliberaliseerde huurovereenkomsten
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