Unfriendly service, long waiting times, poor repairs: now that CDA Amstelveen has handed over a file with 97 complaints from tenants to Eigen Haard, the housing association promises to take action.
Bert Rouwenhorst wishes everyone an affordable and good home. He is a citizen councilor at CDA Amstelveen. With his experience in the housing construction world, he decided to take the bull by the horns. In April, he and his party set up a hotline for tenants of Eigen Haard. “You go into politics to mean something to the people,” he says. “And that’s how I could help.”
The hotline closed on May 31. Within two months, 97 complaints were received about 300 homes. To this day, Bert still receives complaints. “The complaints are very broad: from people who were rudely put aside to people who were delivered a house with holes in the toilet bowl.”
“If you make a complaint and someone listens to you, the complaint is already half as big”
There are also many complaints about the Residents’ Council. “A Residents’ Council should be neutral, but many people felt it that they are on the side of Eigen Haard,” he says. “The tenants did not feel heard by either of them. If you make a complaint and someone listens to you, the complaint is already half as big.”
NH wrote about it before Manuel. His apartment of Eigen Haard flooded due to a problem with the sewage system. The house was full of ‘shit water’ and excrement from his neighbors who lived on the nine floors above him. Also Nicole did not have a pleasant experience with Eigen Haard. When she moved into her social rental home, her bathroom turned out to be a ruin.
The CDA, the Residents’ Council and Eigen Haard held a discussion about the complaints on 15 June. These were broadly discussed. “Own fireplace realized that there were many problems. According to Eigen Haard, this was mainly due to the staff shortage.”
Finger on the pulse
Bert also transferred all complaints and files to Eigen Haard on 15 June. The housing association has already taken action. “I also know that many people have already had a reaction from Eigen Haard,” he says. “We have passed on the complaints, but we want to hear what they have done and how they are going to solve it. They link it back to me per complaint. That way we keep a finger on the pulse.”
Eigen Haard will visit a tenant on Monday who has had a lot of moisture in her home for years. Bert is present. “It breaks my heart, because she has really been shortchanged in recent years,” he says. “Thanks to the conversations with Eigen Haard, I really have the confidence that the complaints will be handled properly.”