Interior Min. to tackle housing market fairness with automatic bidding log

When selling a house, an automatic bidding log must be kept. In this way, both the sellers and bidding parties have insight into how the bidding process went, and the sale of homes will therefore be fairer. Caretaker Minister Kajsa Ollongren of Home Affairs made this proposal. She also wants home sale rules to be made more explicit and for buyers to have equal opportunities.

Several other countries already work with a bidding log in which all bids automatically end up. Bidders and sellers can therefore check how the process went, and thus "the space for not acting with integrity disappears," according to Ollongren. Trade association VBO has already started a trial. Ollongren initially wants the industry to arrange the bidding log itself. If that does not happen, she will enforce it through legislation.

Furthermore, brokers must draft an improvement plan to clarify the rules. There is still a lot of uncertainty about precisely what buyers, sellers, and brokers must adhere to because the rules leave room for interpretation. Trade associations VBO and NVM must draw up this improvement plan before the end of this year.

Ollongren is also investigating the possibility of making a reservation for financing and building inspection mandatory. Home seekers now often drop those demands to increase their chances, as there is much more demand for housing than supply. However, this puts them at greater financial risk. Finally, Ollongren wants to investigate whether houses are placed on all platforms at the same time. Funda, in which the NVM has a significant interest, is currently seen as an advantaged party.

Ollongren's plans follow questions from parliament about the overstrained housing market and a deny-list by Vereniging Eigen Huis, made based on a hotline where people could report abuses by real estate agents. Earlier this year, various industry organizations and market parties were invited to explain what they think can be done to make the market fairer.