It was no longer possible to afford such a substantial part of your income month after month to landlord Eigen Haard. Writer Florence Tonk finally paid 1429 euros basic rent for the private sector home in the Waalstraat. “Every year, the maximum rent increase was added to that, this was unbearable† There was no way to talk about affordable rent with Eigen Haard.”

So at the end of 2021 it came about: Tonk and her partner rooms, they left the city. With a heavy heart they left for their hometown of Wageningen. A great personal drama too, she says. “I am divorced and co-parenting. My ex lives here and our son goes to school here. So it meant that co-parenting has ended and I live a long way from my child and see less.”

The drama turned even more sour when she found out that her old house had been put up for rent for, as Tonk puts it: “Only 857 euros including service costs. And our income meets the requirements associated with this lower rent. So it is clear that we lived far too long.”

It visited Tonk deeply. “I can’t understand this: we were forced to leave the house because it became unaffordable and after that the price could go to an affordable one. This feels like absolute arbitrariness. It turned out that there was also a storage room associated with it, which has probably been vacant in recent years.”

It has to do with new policy at Eigen Haard, according to a saying, which points to the great shortage of affordable rental housing for low-middle incomes. “We have reduced the rent for some of our homes. Sitting tenants will not receive a rent reduction. The house was allocated at the start based on income requirements that are related to the rental price that was associated with it at the time.”

The spokeswoman refers to the housing allowance, a scheme whereby tenants receive a contribution towards housing costs for six months. She speaks of customization. Tonk is angry and at the same time. “Nice for new tenants, it is a nice house in a nice neighborhood. But for us this is especially very bitter.”