Support for banning temporary rental contracts faltering in Dutch Senate

The bill to ban temporary rental contracts for homes met unexpected resistance in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, on Tuesday. The BBB, the largest party in the Senate with 16 seats, unexpectedly changed to the landlords’ side of the debate and withdrew support for the bill. Now, the hesitant CDA has the swing vote for whether the GroenLinks-PvdA and ChristenUnie bill will get a majority, RTL Nieuws reports.

Temporary rental contracts for two years were introduced in 2015 in an attempt to create more housing by allowing landlords to rent out homes for shorter periods to target groups like students or migrant workers. Instead, they resulted in higher rents and less security for tenants, according to parliamentarians behind the bill - Henk Nijboer (Groenlinks-PvdA) and Pieter Griwnis (ChristenUnie).

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, passed the bill with 112 of the 150 parliamentarians - including members of BBB and CDA - voting in favor. That made it seem like a done deal.

However, during the debate in the Eerste Kamer on Tuesday, the BBB suddenly sided with the landlords and made it clear that party leader Caroline van der Plas also supports the new course, according to RTL. The BBB now believes that homeowners should be able to decide for themselves whether they want to rent their homes with permanent or temporary contracts.

The CDA was also critical of the bill, even though its own Minister of Housing, Hugo de Jonge, threw his support behind the measure. The outgoing Minister was initially hesitant but supported it because he believes good protection of tenants is essential. The CDA would not say at the end of the debate whether the party would vote in favor.

Currently, the ban on temporary rental contracts for housing can count on support from GroenLinks-PvdA, ChristenUnie, PVV, SP, Volt, PvdD, and D66. These parties have 34 of the 75 seats in the Eerste Kamer. The CDA has six seats, so it could push the bill to a majority. The vote will happen on Tuesday.