Rent increases likely on July 1 as PVV refuses to take measures
Landlords will likely be allowed to increase the prices of rental homes on July 1 as agreed. Various parties, including the PVV, argued for lower rents. But during the parliamentary debate on the topic, it became clear that the largest party was not willing to take measures to arrange this, NOS reports.
The PVV faced criticism from almost all the other parties in the debate. PVV parliamentarian Jeremy Mooiman said that it is up to the Cabinet to lower rents in the Spring Memorandum - the annual update to the national budget. “We are going to fight for a rent reduction there,” he said.
However, the left-wing opposition parties GroenLinks-PvdA, SP, and DENK pointed out that the Spring Memorandum is too late to tackle rents. Negotiations for the budget update could last until May, and then there’s no time to stop the rent increase on July 1. Wednesday’s debate was more or less the last chance to do that, they stressed. “The tenants can’t wait. Come on, join in,” GroenLinks-PvdA MP Habtamu de Hoop tried to persuade the PVV.
SP parliamentarian Sandra Beckerman reminded the PVV that it promised a rent reduction of 20 percent when campaigning for the parliamentary elections. “You are pulling the wool over tenants’ eyes,” she said. Instead of a massive decrease, tenants got the biggest rent increase in 30 years last year and will face another big increase in July.
But it was to no avail. According to Mooiman, the government has taken measures recently “that are positive for tenants,” such as adjustments to the rent allowance. The PVV won’t push for a rent reduction in parliament.
On Wednesday, PVV leader Geert Wilders also posted on X that lower rents were among his top three items to fight for during the Spring Memorandum negotiations. Most other parties accused him of just “talking tough” on social media.
Coalition party VVD argued that lowering rents would be irresponsible because it would leave landlords with less money to build much-needed new homes. “Lowering rents means that we do not build houses,” VVD MP Peter de Groot said. “The bill has to be paid.”
