Rent freeze threatens social tenants’ livelihoods, housing corporation director says

The proposed national rent freeze threatens the housing security of social tenants and those seeking affordable homes, according to the director of Ymere, the largest housing corporation in the Netherlands. The freeze could force the corporation to halt sustainability upgrades for 25,000 homes, leading to higher energy bills for low-income residents.

Speaking Sunday on the television program Buitenhof, Ymere director Erik Gerritsen said the government’s plan jeopardizes the basic security of more than 100,000 people. “This is so big that the housing security of 100,000 house seekers and current tenants is simply at risk. So we have no choice,” he said.

Ymere manages tens of thousands of social rental homes in and around Amsterdam. The organization had planned to carry out energy-efficiency improvements for 25,000 homes but now expects to cancel those upgrades if the government moves forward with the rent freeze. “Because of that plan, we’ll be able to make 25,000 fewer homes sustainable,” Gerritsen said.

The impact will fall disproportionately on the lowest-income households, he warned. Without the planned upgrades, tenants will continue to face steep energy costs that far outweigh the short-term financial benefit of a temporary rent freeze. “There’s nothing wrong with lower rents,” Gerritsen said, “but people with a low income barely profit from this measure. That means we can’t make our homes more sustainable. It has a massive effect on the energy bill, so the people with the lowest incomes will still be stuck with energy costs many times higher than the tiny gain they get from the rent freeze.”

Gerritsen said the policy will also worsen the existing housing shortage. Ymere is now weighing whether to continue with the planned sustainability investments despite the financial setback. If the upgrades move ahead, the organization expects to build 3,300 fewer homes over the next ten years. “This also affects house seekers, because they will have to wait even longer,” he said.

This past week, umbrella group Aedes and 230 housing corporations announced they are taking the Dutch government to court over the rent freeze. They plan to file an emergency lawsuit against the Cabinet. Gerritsen said he “150 percent” supports the legal action.

Vice Prime Minister Fleur Agema, who appeared on Buitenhof alongside Gerritsen, said that Minister of Housing Mona Keijzer is still developing the final shape of the policy. “She is still searching for the right approach,” Agema said.