The organizers of the protest want to put the housing crisis at the top of the agenda just before the municipal elections.
Bolsums: “Maintain all the social rent that is available and also build more social rent. It is important that every Amsterdam resident can live in an affordable home. What is affordable? Social. Just build socially. And kick all domestic and foreign real estate investors out of the city. Make sure that the houses are for people again and not for profit.” Bergsma adds: “Enforce the vacancy ban. No more vacancies and allow squatting.”
They also want homeless people to be able to get a house, to prevent rents from rising further, to put a stop to temporary rental contracts and to create more space for housing cooperatives.
Hotel Mokum
The last place we visit today is Hotel Mokum on Manixstraat. The hotel was squatted five years ago and then cleared again. Since then there has been a lot of renovation work going on. “The reason we also walk past Hotel Mokum on Sunday is that it is of course a reminder of what we owe in Amsterdam to the squatting movement,” says Bolsums. “Think of Paradiso, think of the Nieuwmarktbuurt. This entire city lives and thrives on the old squatting movement from the eighties. I think it is important that we keep that in mind during this major housing crisis. That is why we are going to do a small commemoration during the tour. We are going to lay flowers in memory of Hotel Mokum.”
