Housing minister Hugo de Jonge has made a major concession to developers who are concerned his plans to extend rent controls to cover more residential property would hurt investments, by allowing them to add a 10% supplement to the rent for new build. 

The 10% top-up, aimed at encouraging developers and investors to build more new homes, was originally 5% and would have been restricted to 10 years. De Jonge has now changed his position, doubling the supplement and removing the time limit, after developers said the new rules would seriously impair their ability to invest in the pipeline. 

The supplement will cover all new build rental property on which work is started in the next two years. 

Concerns

Institutional investors organisation IVBN and developers association NEPROM said in a joint reaction to the revised plans that more needs to be done to make sure construction does not slow further. In particular, they say, the supplement should apply to property built after 2025, and they want the transfer tax on the sale of real estate to be cut from 10.4% to 6%.

“Institutional investors need to be able to count on having a trustworthy and attractive investment climate to be able to continue to invest in mid-market rentals,” said IVBN director Judith Norbart-ten Hoor. 

“Over the past five years, institutional investors have added some 9,000 rental units to the market, or some 15% of the total new build in the Netherlands. And we want to keep doing that. Ultimately, people looking for a home will benefit most from that.” 

Rent controls

Developers also remain concerned about the minister’s plans to increase the limit for rent controls in the Netherlands to property worth up to €1,100 a month in the Dutch “points” system, a way of calculating rents based on a score for size, value, quality and outside space. 

However, the point system itself is also being overhauled to give more weight to properties that are highly energy efficient, have gardens or balconies, and high-quality kitchens and bathrooms – which will also benefit newly build property, De Jonge said.  

Landlords had lobbied hard against the introduction of the new rules, arguing that they would lead to a wave of sales as it becomes less profitable for landlords to rent out property. 

Nevertheless, at the beginning of February, the Dutch land registry office Kadaster said that the number of rental properties in the Netherlands increased last year. In 2023, investors owned 9.4% of the country’s housing stock, compared with 9% in 2022 and 8.6% in 2021, the Kadaster figures show. The increase is largely down to investment in newly-built properties by large real estate investors.  

New homes
Developers completed some 73,000 new homes in the Netherlands last year, well below the government’s target of 100,000 and fewer than in 2022, according to national statistics agency CBS.

But this year the total number of completions will fall still further because fewer permits were handed out in 2021, the CBS said. It takes an average of two years from permit to completion.

According to research carried out on behalf of the home affairs ministry, plans have been drawn up to build 1,075,000 new homes in the Netherlands between 2022 and 2030 – in line with government targets.

MPs decided on Thursday to press ahead with the legislation, pending the formation of a new government.