Rising WOZ value hits social tenants hard: ‘Possibly save hundreds of euros with objection’ | Living

For owners of an owner-occupied home, the WOZ value of their house is synonymous with the property tax (ozb) that they will have to pay to the municipality again next spring. And then it becomes a shock when the WOZ decision arrives: municipalities have increased the WOZ value of owner-occupied houses by an average of 16 percent. This is evident from new figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics.

But for tenants at a housing association, who do not pay the property tax themselves and who therefore traditionally pay less attention to the WOZ value, the increase is slightly greater: no less than 18 percent.

This concerns the home value on January 1 of this year, which is used to calculate the property tax for next year. The significant increase can therefore be explained: in 2022, house prices rose sharply for the second year in a row, before only being replaced this year. Whether this results in a higher property tax for homeowners is now up to the municipalities: they can adjust their tax rate in such a way that the final amount to be paid increases less rapidly than the home value.

Tenants do not pay the property tax themselves, but they do see the WOZ value reflected in their rent. And as interested parties, they can also object to it, says a spokesperson for the Woonbond. “But that is not known to everyone. While you can benefit from a reduction in the WOZ value, especially if the corporation charges the maximum rent that it can charge according to the points system.”

For that group of tenants, the windfall could amount to several hundred euros per year. If the WOZ value is adjusted from 180,000 to 170,000 euros, a home with a monthly rent of 590 euros can suddenly cost 570 euros per month, according to a calculation from this site by the Rental Commission.

There is a cocktail of reasons why the WOZ value of social rental properties is rising above average, according to inquiries from housing association umbrella organization Aedes and CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen. Corporations are always busy improving their housing portfolio: houses are demolished, construction is underway and what remains standing is made more sustainable. In addition, says an Aedes spokesperson, social housing is often smaller homes: “Their value increases faster than that of large homes.” Van Mulligen: “And house prices have risen fastest in recent years in urban areas, where there are relatively many social rental properties.”