A mud stream from The Hague, for example, describes Paul Tang, alderman in Almere, the legislation on asylum and migration that the House of Representatives agreed on Thursday evening after a chaotic week. As a responsible alderman for public housing, he is concerned about an amendment to the new public housing law: “If this becomes law, we will soon be able to clean up the mess. Only nobody knows how.”
It is all about an adopted amendment that PVV MP Jeremy Mooiman submitted by motion to the new public housing law last Tuesday. It states that municipalities are no longer allowed to give priority to status holders, asylum seekers who have received a residence permit when allocating social rental properties.
It may sound logical that status holders, like other Dutch people, have to wait for a social rental home. They are scarce at the moment, Tang also knows. “But if the Senate also agrees with this legislation, municipalities are saddled with obligations from The Hague that are at odds with each other,” said Tang.
That’s true. According to legislation by the same central government, municipalities are told twice a year how many status holders they have to accommodate. In this way the central government tries to make room in asylum seekers’ centers and flow locations, specially designed for status holders.
The space in those temporary reception locations is limited, and that depends on the central government itself, according to the Court of Audit. An analysis from 2023 shows that the shortage of temporary reception for asylum seekers is a result of a structural underestimation of the costs. It is a problem that has been playing for at least twenty years.
/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data134529543-7d65ed.jpg|https://images.nrc.nl/vWYBMLJmQYBDc3i4oqdWKyaYUgg=/1920x/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data134529543-7d65ed.jpg|https://images.nrc.nl/IjF9dU-_K1Nl3dvsOkcN46mG1mg=/5760x/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data134529543-7d65ed.jpg)
Paul Tang is an alderman in Almere and, among other things, responsible for public housing. Photo Jonas Roosens/ANP
Agreements with partners
To compensate for the consequences of this, municipalities must make agreements for the housing of status holders, for example with housing corporations. “The provinces supervise the municipalities to ensure that we get those numbers,” says Tang. “The current legislation allows us to allocate part of the social housing stock to status holders.”
But that is no longer allowed if the new public housing law with the PVV amendment is actually introduced. And that leads to major problems, also says the Association of Dutch Municipalities that last Wednesday A letter of fire sent to the Lower House. According to the VNG, the new law creates inequality between home seekers and has not been legally tested.
Apart from possible legal problems, the obligation to accommodate status holders remains.
Housing is an urgent problem for many Dutch people, Tang acknowledges. But he sees that status holders have the most vulnerable position in the housing market. “In contrast to most other home seekers, they have no network or support from family and friends. That is why it is very difficult for them to find a home without the help of the government.”
In Almere, 30 percent of the stock of social rental properties are currently going to status holders and the other 70 percent to other home seekers, “said Tang.” This is how the housing obligation for status holders succeeds and we can also help other people in sometimes harrowing situations. ”
If the Senate also agrees, municipalities are saddled with obligations from The Hague that are at odds with each other
New problems
But if it is due to a majority in the Lower House, this will no longer be allowed. “How should we deal with the duty in that new situation to accommodate status holders?” Tang wonders. “Hence the term mud flow.”
The alderman explains why he uses such big words. “If we can no longer use the social housing stock for the housing of status holders, we must start building a separate category of homes for the accommodation of status holders?” That leads to a delay with even more shortages. The result is more homelessness with all the problems attached to it. “
And according to Tang, the construction of separate homes for status holders is also undesirable for other reasons. “Everyone wants new Dutch people to integrate Tang.” But how do you manage that if you have to build a separate category of homes? Then you create neighborhoods or neighborhoods where no one else lives. You shouldn’t want that because it is a breeding ground for many other problems. ”