Eight months ago, PvdA councilor Arno de Vries called on the Emmen council to investigate legal action against the twentieth medal from the Kröner family. Since then, both residents and Dorpsbelangen Emmer-Compascuum have experienced that the file has not gained the momentum they hoped for. Reason for De Vries to sound the alarm again at the council.
According to both him and village chairman Gerard Gustin, the situation is now dire for many residents. “The housing market is already locked up and that twentieth penny only makes the problems worse,” says Gustin.
The 20th penny is part of the leasehold rights that date from the time of peat extraction in Drenthe. In 1874 these were declared perpetual by Royal Decree. Every time a home on these plots is sold, one twentieth part of the purchase price, i.e. 5 percent, must be paid to the owner of that land.
These rights ultimately ended up with the Kröner family in Het Gooi and apply to almost 300 plots of land in Emmer-Compascuum. The village has been trying to get rid of the 20th penny for years.
In April, the PvdA submitted written questions to the council. De Vries asked the municipal council to investigate, in collaboration with Dorpsbelangen, what legal options there are to challenge the twentieth medal. The council then indicated that it would address this.
But eight months later it remains very quiet, says De Vries. “I have inquired regularly in between and something did happen. But it continued to fade away. It feels as if it has reached a dead end. I want to finally clarify that.”
De Vries had hoped that the municipality could provide an initial update before or just after the summer. Especially because after feedback with a lawyer specialized in leasehold, it was indicated that legal proceedings would be promising.
Both De Vries and Gustin refer to the same legal advice: the Kröner family would be allowed to collect one twentieth of the sales value annually, but according to historical deeds there should be a quid pro quo in return.
De Vries: “Kröner never did that for decades. He only sent the invoices. For the lawyer, that is exactly the hook on which a judge can say: this is not right.”
Gustin confirms that previous legal attempts yielded nothing, but that the new insight represents a significant change of course. De Vries: “If you have to pay but there is nothing in return, then it will stop at some point. And that increases the chance that most of the token can be removed.”
According to Dorpsbelangen, the consequences in the village are now enormous. Sales are stagnating, the housing market is under pressure and construction plans are stalled. Gustin gives a concrete example: “There is a house here in the village that has already dropped in price by 25,000 euros because the token drove the price up. Without it, that house would have been sold a long time ago.” De Vries calls the combination of housing shortage, rising house prices and the twentieth penny a ‘poisonous cocktail’.
An important next step could be the formation of a joint party to the proceedings: a foundation or association in which private homeowners can unite. There are approximately 280 owners who fall under the twentieth penny. In addition to a large group of private individuals, this also includes the municipality and the Lefier housing association, according to Gustin. The expectation is that a joint fist increases the chance of success.
Both Gustin and de De Vries think that the lack of significant progress was due to the lack of contact with the Kröner family. “You must first try to reach an agreement. But that has not been successful in previous attempts in previous years. And it has always remained that way,” he sighs. De Vries: “I think we can now say that the time for talking is really over.”
De Vries therefore wants to put pressure again next week. “I just want to know in black and white: is it still on the right track? And if so, how quickly will we get clarity? Because time is ticking for the residents.”
Councilor Jan Bos says that the council has tried to make an appointment with Kröner in the past year. “But they have indicated that they have no need for that. We sent a letter on November 10, but we have not yet received a response.” In the meantime, the municipality is also considering other options.
In one scenario, the municipality is considering a trial process. “If we win, other parties can follow our example.” In addition, the municipality is looking at whether everyone involved can start a collective business together. “But we still have to make a choice regarding the route to take,” Bos said.