Hundreds register for March 10 affordable housing protest in The Hague

Hundreds of people have signed up to participate in a protest for affordable housing in The Hague on March 10, the organizers announced in a press release. It mainly involves younger people struggling to buy their first homes, homeowners association VEH and Lowlands said.

Protesters will set up tents in the city center of The Hague from 1:30 p.m. on March 10 to protest for affordable housing. They can speak about the obstacles they face on stage, and the organizers will hand a petition to Housing Minister Hugo de Jonge.

"Within 24 hours, 500 first-time buyers have registered for this demonstration, which shows how dire the situation is," said Karsten Klein of the VEH. "We see an entire generation growing up that don't stand a chance of owning a home. Together with the first-time buyers, we find that unacceptable, and that is why we set up the action."

Festival Lowlands is part of this demonstration. "The first-time buyers' group is well represented among the Lowlands public. They feel the housing crisis like no other. We see it as our task to make a voice for this social problem," director Eric van Eerdenburg said.

According to VEH and Lowlands, young adults in the Netherlands are increasingly frustrated by their inability to find affordable homes. Some are even putting their family plans on hold because they can't find a place to stay. The slight fall in home prices and increase in supply is not enough to fix this problem, especially given the higher mortgage interest rates.

On Monday, mortgage adviser De Hypotheker pointed out that the average home cost 407,000 euros in the fourth quarter of last year, while first-time buyers could get an average mortgage of only 276,000 euros at the end of 2022.