Entire floors of hundreds of thousands of houses are barely inhabited, while the housing shortage is great. Time for a resurrection of the landlady, says Minister Hugo de Jonge. A new law should make it more attractive to rent out all those empty rooms. Who will follow the example of 79-year-old Jeanette Kotterink?
Kotterink from Zwolle swore that she would not do it again: take a tenant. It went wrong last time. “The man who lived with me didn’t help me with anything, and he caused problems. The police came to his door.”
The tenant left. Yet she has someone at home again: a young woman this time. She ended up on the street last year when her relationship ended. Kotterink: “I can’t stand the thought of someone standing in the cold on the street.”
Kotterink rents out a room through Onder de Pannen, a social project in which residents open their home to those looking for a home. It is one of the measures in Zwolle, the largest student city in the region, to help dire cases who are victims of the housing shortage.
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