In two weeks Danny Wijninga and his girlfriend Suzanne will be on the street. Together with their daughter Romy who is just 3 years old. They currently live in a rented house in Bladel, but because they have not been able to pay the rent for three months, the private landlord wants to evict the family.
The subdistrict court judge will give a written decision in the Eindhoven case on June 30, says Danny: “But the judge already informed us last week that we have to leave on July 1. If we didn’t have a child, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. We can manage, sleep in the car or, if necessary, go to a homeless shelter. But we have a daughter, she must have a house.”
It is not the first time Danny has run into financial problems. “It’s true I’ve been in shit before, who hasn’t?”
He thought he had life in order now. The family’s financial problems started now when the diesel price rose. Danny ran a courier company with his girlfriend. “That company had peaks and troughs. Some months we earned 7,000 euros, sometimes less. But when diesel prices rose, all our customers switched to cheap Eastern European companies.”
He was forced to pull the plug from the company. But he could only return the two lease cars if he paid a hefty fine, and the invoice for the fuel cards also followed. As a result, they ended up in debt counseling.
“We cannot find another affordable home due to the housing shortage.”
So they couldn’t afford to pay the rent. “The private house that we are now renting costs EUR 1027 per month. For 200 euros less I could rent a chalet at an Oostappen Holiday Park Prinsenmeer in Ommel. That was affordable. The contract had already been signed, but on the advice of the administrator I called the municipality of Asten. When it turned out that they were not allowed to live there, a penalty would be imposed. But we can’t find another affordable home due to the housing shortage.”
The family cannot go to relatives either. Danny’s parents have passed away and Suzanne’s parents live in a small terraced house with a son who lives at home.
It is striking that Suzanne said in the lawsuit against the judge that the termination of the lease was good. “We had to tell the administrator that. He already saw that the judge wouldn’t agree to a longer rent if we couldn’t pay. Then why ask if we could stay longer?” Danny says. “We also had to say that we could go to our in-laws, because you are not allowed to live at the holiday park.”
Danny also had contact with housing association De ZalINGEN (WSZ) for an affordable rental house. “He had said that a child would never end up on the street. All the paperwork had already been sent in, including information about the lawsuit filed by the current landlord.”
“According to the rules, we don’t have enough connection with Bladel.”
Then he was told they were not eligible for urgency as they have not been living in Bladel for two years. “Then you don’t have enough bonding according to their rules. But my child has a childminder here, my girlfriend has a new job and works in Eersel. Romy is already registered here at the future school.”
The housing association says that it will not comment on individual cases: “But in order to be given priority, you must indeed live in our region for two consecutive years”, a spokesperson confirms.
Danny himself already has a new job in mind, he is starting a security course. “I have already found work at a security company, the police screening has already been requested.”
With the money from two incomes, they can theoretically rent back the old house. “But the landlord doesn’t want that. We think he wants his daughter to live here.”