Left-wing parties want to ban investors from buying owner-occupied homes to rent out

If it is up to the PvdA and GroenLinks, investors will soon no longer be allowed to buy homes for sale and rent them out. This week, the opposition parties will submit a bill that makes this impossible during a parliamentary debate on the housing budget.

Over the past years, real estate investors have bought homes on a large scale, often renting them out at very high rents. One of the consequences of this is that first-time buyers, in particular, find it very difficult to enter the owner-occupied market and are, therefore, dependent on the same expensive rental properties. Investors are also pushing up prices in the already overcrowded housing market.

The government has tried to tackle this problem by introducing higher transfer tax for investors, among other things. Some municipalities have also introduced a self-occupancy obligation. But these measures have an insufficient effect, according to the left-wing parties. The Netherlands is still “a mecca for pawnbrokers and slum landlords,” said PvdA MP Henk Nijboer.

“Providing affordable housing is a government task,” said GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver. He wants houses to “no longer be an investment object but a home for ordinary families again.” As far as he is concerned, a purchase ban should ensure that.

The parties do believe that people should be able to rent out their owner-occupied home for a maximum of one year if they go abroad for work or study. They also want to make an exception for people who live together on a trial basis. In addition, municipalities must be able to apply for an exemption if they believe that more privately rented homes are needed for the quality of life in a neighborhood.