Kanawu Radio number 1 news portal
The ‘self-residential obligation’, whereby home buyers in Amsterdam are not allowed to rent out their home, but must live in it themselves for the first four years, will come into effect on 1 April. The council announced this today.
The new rule should ensure that fewer homes are bought by investors and rented out for high prices, the so-called ‘buy-to-let’. Over the past 10 years, investment funds, mostly American, have bought 5.7 billion euros worth of houses in Amsterdam. As a result, starters often fish behind the net.
Houses for sale in the city are becoming more and more expensive, partly because commercial parties can draw a large wallet. “The price of an owner-occupied home has more than doubled in the past seven years, to an average of six tons. With the purchase protection for existing owner-occupied homes, first-time buyers and middle-incomers have a greater chance of buying a home, because they are no longer trumped by investors who buy homes and then rent them out at sky-high prices,” says housing alderman Jakob Wedemeijer.
The city council must officially approve the measure in less than two weeks. But a spokesperson for Wedemeijer does not expect any obstacles there.
More private rent than owner-occupied houses
Rental costs are also rising rapidly. On Wednesday, it was revealed that the stock of (expensive) private rental houses exceeds the number of owner-occupied houses for the first time. In two years, 10,000 homes have shifted from the owner-occupied market to the expensive private rental segment. ‘ Keep-to-let ‘ is also identified as a cause: people who buy another house and rent out their old house.
Amsterdam is not the only municipality where purchase protection is or will be in force. In Rotterdam, such a scheme applies in sixteen neighborhoods for houses with a WOZ value of up to 355,000 euros. Dozens of other municipalities also have a self-occupancy obligation or are working on such an arrangement.
Exceptions
There are a few exceptions to the self-occupancy obligation. For example, a house may be rented out to immediate family members (parents, children, brothers, sisters) or rented out temporarily, for example during a stay abroad. Houses that are an integral part of a commercial space, office or shop may also be rented out.
