200 people participate in housing protest in The Hague, one person arrested

About 200 people protested at the Koekamp in The Hague against "the housing crisis, the real estate industry, the mismanagement of the government, and the unambitious plans of most political parties." The organization Housing Protest demanded, among other things, the abolition of the squatting ban and the expropriation of all large private landowners and landlords. During the continuation of the Housing Protest in the hall of the World Trade Center in The Hague, someone has been arrested for destroying the tires of a police car.

Even terug naar buiten gelopen om u een beeld te geven van de situatie daar. Meer sympathisanten en demonstranten. Binnen is nog een kleine groep die weigert te vertrekken. #woonprotest. pic.twitter.com/im5AMVnwHo

— Owen (@_owenobrien_) October 28, 2023

Demonstrators carried protest signs with slogans such as "You can't live on a waiting list" and "No housing, no future." Several political parties, including Volt, BIJ1, and the PvdD, were also present at the housing protest. Party leader Edson Olf of BIJ1 said on X that he supported the organization's demands. "The housing market must be addressed radically and we must guarantee housing for all," he said.

Ook ik ben vandaag aanwezig op het @WOONPROTEST in Den Haag. Ik, en mijn partij, staan achter de eisen van het Woonprotest. De woningmarkt moet radicaal worden aangepakt en we moeten huisvesting garanderen voor iedereen #WoonProtest pic.twitter.com/WXtujrsJKE

— Edson Olf (@edsonolf) October 28, 2023

At the end of the protest, the organization called for the demonstration to continue in front of the office of the real estate investors association IVBN. This call was answered by about 25 people. The demonstrators stood with banners in the hall of the World Trade Center (WTC) in The Hague, where the office of IVBN is located. The banners read "Billions in profits, a hundred thousand homeless" and "Stop IVBN, expropriate the profiteers of the housing crisis," according to an ANP reporter on the scene.

1/4 🚨Wij hebben samen met kameraden zojuist het kantoor van de grootste vereniging voor vastgoedbeleggers bezet. Kom nu (!) buiten het gebouw van de #IVBN je steun betuigen (Pr. Margrietplantsoen 84a).

En lees meer over de wanpraktijken van de IVBN op https://t.co/6ZeynndbC6. pic.twitter.com/3P4CNFgeK3

— WOONPROTEST (@WOONPROTEST) October 28, 2023

Meanwhile, the police have begun to remove the protesters from the hall of the WTC.

The organization of the Housing Protest already announced at the X that it would not leave the hall "until this toxic lobbying club has been dismantled".

IVBN says it does not recognize the criticism of the demonstrators. "This group has never contacted us, so we do not know their demands. But we do not recognize their criticism at all. We enter into dialogue with all parties about the housing shortage," says director Judith Norbart. "That is a very broad palette, including interest groups that stand up for tenants."