Parliament majority votes for affordable rent law, passing by wide majority

The Affordable Rent Act was passed in a vote on Thursday by the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament. This law, submitted by outgoing Interior Affairs Minister Hugo de Jonge, should reduce the rental prices on some units that are available for tenants on the private rental sector.

As expected, the bill passed by a wide 112-38 majority, with parties across the political spectrum voting in favor of the measure. The bill will still need to pass the Eerste Kamer before it can become law.

The points system that determines the maximum rental price will add a new tier where apartments scoring 186 points can be rented out for a maximum of just over 1,100 euros. At the moment, the only tier is 147 points, with apartments in that range capped at roughly 880 euros.

This expansion should reduce the rental prices of hundreds of thousands of homes. In addition, this housing valuation system is becoming more of a mandatory process. Tenants currently have to go to the Rent Assessment Committee themselves to get their rent lowered, but municipalities will soon also be allowed to enforce this.

VVD and BBB in particular are concerned that the measure will mean renting out apartments will no longer be profitable, causing investors to sell their properties en masse and the construction of new homes to decline. De Jonge believes that his law strikes a balance between the interests of tenants and landlords, and sees the possible sale of homes as a correction to the previous purchase of homes by investors.

The largest party in the Tweede Kamer, the PVV, brought 37 votes to the table, and the second largest party, GroenLinks-PvdA, brought another 25. They were joined by NSC (20), D66 (9), CDA (5), SP (5), Denk (3), PvdD (3), Christen Unie (3), and Volt (2). Those opposed included the right-wing and far-right parties of VVD, BBB, FvD, SGP, and Ja21.

The Eerste Kamer still has to consider the law. It is not yet known when that will happen. If the same parties vote in favor in the Eerste Kamer, the law would also obtain a majority there.