More renters facing illegal eviction threats, especially foreign students and workers

Landlords in the Netherlands are subjecting more housing tenants to harassment, intimidation, and illegal eviction amid the national housing shortage. A survey of several associations representing tenants and housing issues showed that international students, foreign workers, and young adults are often subjected to abuse, the Volkskrant reported on Monday.

These groups of people are often targeted because they are perceived as being less knowledgeable of their own legal rights as tenants. Several associations representing renters told the newspaper they believe some landlords try to only rent out to people from abroad specifically for this reason. Landlords will threaten tenants or badger them to leave by a certain date, send lease "termination letters full of legal jargon," or even change the locks when a tenant is not home, the tenant groups claimed.

"He said he had permission from the justice officials to do so. I suspected that this was not true, but I was still afraid that they would use it against me if I had the locks changed again," said Hesham Abdelrahim, a 30-year-old man from Egypt. The Utrecht University of Applied Sciences student was forced to crash at his friends' homes when possible, and even wound up sleeping on the street at one point. He could not re-enter his home until after he won a lawsuit over the matter.

Investors are able to command higher prices when selling properties if those homes are vacant. Real estate trade group Vastgoed Belang told the newspaper that an empty home can sell for a price that is dozens of percentage points higher than if a renter is present in the home under a lease agreement. Currently, more property investors are selling off residences than buying them.

National rules sharply increased the real estate transfer tax for housing investors, and a new tier will put a strict maximum price on monthly rent for mid-market properties. That means that housing buyers are currently far more likely to be people who intend to live in the home, and they are more likely to bid on properties that do not have a tenant so they can move in immediately.

Now that it is more difficult for landlords to make a profit on their investment, many want to exit the market, especially those who are self-employed with a handful of properties. "They see their pension money evaporating and want to get rid of the home as soon as possible," said Vastgoed Belang spokesperson Kavish Partiman in an interview with the Volkskrant.

Another tenant, Klaas Groen, said he was manipulated into paying a landlord cash under the table for the home he rents with three others. They were told they would then be given a permanent lease if they helped their landlord by taking that deal. "Later the landlord said that she wanted to sell the building in due course because of the announced measures. That moment came this summer, after a year and a half without a contract, and so we have to move out," the 28-year-old told the newspaper.

When the Utrecht resident said he would not leave, the homeowner escalated the situation. "The landlord then threatened to send bailiffs if we didn’t leave the house by August 31. That’s not legally possible, but I’m afraid of ‘informal bailiffs.' Every time the doorbell rings, I get a heart attack."

Home sales prices have also reached a record high, which could spur some to get rid of their tenants and quickly sell a property. "Does that justify people behaving inappropriately towards tenants? No, certainly not. But we do understand the stress that landlords are experiencing," said Partiman.

"Just as people buy shares, they have also started buying homes in the past decade," said Gert Jan Bakker of Stichting Woon, an association representing the legal position of tenants. "But if homes become an investment product, the fact that a home should be a safe haven for people fades into the background."