‘Own people first’, will that be a success in Amsterdam? ‘Houses are more expensive here’
In the beginning, in 2019, he still heard it: what you want is not possible at all, that is your own people first. But we don’t speak for long, says Dirk de Jager, administrator of the Zuidoost district. “The image that a priority scheme for home seekers from the city’s own district, as we used to be, was a bad idea, fortunately does not last long. And now it is perceived as a sensible measure. It runs in Southeast.”
It was quite something: a quarter of the new-build homes would be given priority to people from the neighbourhood. “Residents of the district were enthusiastic: they will suddenly continue to live in the neighborhood where they were rooted. And after a lot of discussions, the corporations and the project developers also maintain that it is good for a neighborhood if local people can live there.”
Learning and healthcare staff
De Jager is particularly positive about the announced amendment of the law by housing minister Hugo de Jonge, which includes that municipalities will soon be able to reserve half of all homes that can be freely reserved for their own residents. De Jonge assumes that, for example, teachers, nurses and elaboration will have a greater chance of finding a home.
The Home Owners Association considers the amendment to be ‘understandable’. Hans André, it is a sympathetic attempt to tackle the problems that municipalities find in finding housing for healthcare staff, according to guidelines from teachers. “If you give municipalities this opportunity to prioritize important professions in the housing market, you can help these people and municipalities.”
Seller has no choice
But there is also a downside, he says. “The situation may arise that a home owner who wants to sell will soon have no choice. Suppose he puts his house up for sale for 345,000 euros and receives an offer from an outsider for 360,000. Then it can be used to opt for a coherent lower offer from a resident from their own municipality.”
Peter Boelhouwer, professor of housing systems at TU Delft, mainly speaks of a ‘horse remedy’. “This disrupts the market.” However, he understands that the cabinet is coming. “In smaller municipalities, young people who live there are often no longer involved when people from outside the municipality also start looking for a house.”
fat wallet
He also sees an advantage for the large cities. “Certainly in education and the caring professions, there are major shortages. If you don’t do anything about it, it’s untenable. That you want to give priority to people who work in education and care seems very sensible to me: you divide the scarcity, without granting housing only to people with a big wallet.”
Boelhouwer is also critical. He thinks, for example, that reserving homes on the owner-occupied market is ‘asking for trouble’. “That is hardly feasible, you should not want that.” And: “It is of course no more than combating.”
It is exactly the choice of words of Sander van der Kraan, one of the organizers of the Housing protest. “It is nice if people can continue to live where they already live or where they work. But of course you don’t solve the problem yourself, you just shift it. But what about people in other professions? Artists, people die working in a cafe? They also keep the city running and should also be able to live there.”
community spirit
De Jager, formerly Zuidoost, mainly advocates the preservation of a sense of community. “You shouldn’t necessarily allocate half of your homes to your own residents, you have to look at it from neighborhood to neighborhood. But we have seen that such agreements have led to more solidarity with us.”
Everyone agrees about the owner-occupied homes that are coming in for the schedule: 355,000 euros will help a city like almost Amsterdam. “A little low,” says De Jager. Hans André la Porte: “The houses in Amsterdam are all more expensive. You didn’t just find houses that fall below that limit.”
Limit at 355,000 euros
Minister Hugo de Jonge’s proposed amendment to the law must apply to both rental and owner-occupied homes and must come into effect next year. The current law gives municipalities the option to allocate rental housing to people who have an economic or social bond with the place. The difference: now a maximum of a quarter of the supply may be allocated to residents of their own municipality. That word will soon be half. For purchase change amendment for homes up to 355,000 euros, the NHG limit (National Mortgage Guarantee).
Alderman response
Zita Pels, Alderman for Housing: “We have a serious shortage of housing in the city. I want to quickly explore whether we can use the increase from 25 percent to 50 percent of vacant homes for groups such as at least care, education and police personnel. These people are committed to the city every day. By retaining this for these groups, we are retaining the care, education and police personnel in and for Amsterdam. In addition, we are of course also looking at the possibilities for separate groups and starters.”