Low-income tenants can quickly count on a rent reduction: House of Representatives supports amendment to the Housing Act

However, a large part of the opposition wants the rent reduction to apply not only to the 600,000 low-income households renting in the social sector, but also to the 100,000 similar households with a private landlord.

PvdA, GroenLinks, PVV and SP want De Jonge to regulate this in this legislative amendment. They will not block the law if there is no support for their amendment proposals, the MPs of these factions said in the parliamentary debate on the bill.

Trouble

Coalition parties CDA and D66, among others, also have difficulty excluding the 100,000 tenants in the private sector, but foresee various problems in granting this group the same rent reduction of an average of 57 euros per month. According to CDA MP Jaco Geurts, there are major implementation problems. The Tax and Customs Administration would not be able to handle it that way, said D66 MP Faissal Boulakjar. According to both MPs, the property rights of private landlords would also be affected. GroenLinks party chairman Jesse Klaver referred that to the realm of fables.

The CDA wants Minister De Jonge to look into whether private tenants can still be financially compensated. D66 sees more in making these rental homes more sustainable. Tenants “benefit more from a structurally lower energy bill than from a one-off rent reduction,” said Boulakjar.

JA21 also supports the bill that regulates rent reduction. “It is necessary because many tenants fall through the ice,” said Nicki Pouw-Verweij. She thinks it’s “sticking plasters”. “It is the umpteenth correction to the failing housing market policy.”

The House of Representatives will vote on the law next week, but it is already clear that it will be passed with a large majority in parliament. If the Senate also agrees, the rent reduction will take effect in July.