Minister Keijzer: “The goal is to normalize the position of status holders. Therefore, the cabinet aims for status holders to search for suitable housing in the same way as other Dutch citizens. Every housing seeker in the Netherlands must have a prospect of their own place. The proposal contributes to solving the housing shortage and the lack of reception places for asylum seekers.”

State Secretary Nobel: “We want status holders to learn the language as quickly as possible, get to work, and work on their integration into Dutch society while endorsing the norms and values of our open and free society. The cabinet continues to work on this. It is crucial that status holders integrate as quickly as possible.”

A quarter of the reception capacity of the COA is currently used for the reception of people allowed to stay in the Netherlands (status holders). This puts the COAs capacity under great pressure. To solve this, the cabinet is focusing on additional housing options that can also be used by other housing seekers besides status holders. This includes rooms with shared facilities. This way, the cabinet aims to ensure equal opportunities for all housing seekers. Building for multiple target groups should also increase support in society, allowing homes to be realized in more locations.

In the Netherlands, 73,500 people have the right to COA reception. Of that group, 36,750 people stay in regular reception locations. About 30,000 are in emergency reception. And 6,800 people are staying with friends or family, or in municipal reception.

For almost all places that have now been realized, long-term agreements with municipalities apply. These reception places must be flexible: they must be terminable or convertible to housing for other groups such as (municipal) emergency seekers and status holders. More places will become available for those groups as the number of asylum seekers decreases and vice versa. This way, expensive emergency reception can be reduced, and financial risks remain limited.

The cabinet is exploring a target group flexible regulation to create places where status holders can transition, taking into account the ban on priority in the social rental sector. Together, it is being examined how, for example, good examples of shared housing for single and solitary status holders can be scaled up. Work is also being done to simplify regulations to realize flexible and affordable reception places. Municipalities must be able to realize long-term reception where (depending on the need) different target groups can find a place. For example, at one moment, Ukrainian refugees could be the target group, and at another moment, local emergency seekers. The cabinets aim is to create more living space while simultaneously reducing the long-term use of expensive cruise ships or hotel rooms.

The cabinet also wants status holders to learn Dutch faster and get to work sooner to better integrate. At the same time, there is the intention to abolish the housing task assignment for status holders. This has significant implications for the functioning of the current integration system. Therefore, the cabinet is examining how and when these implications can be addressed, so that integration can continue to function well. There is also a look at how language education can be made more flexible, for example online, and how reception locations can better facilitate this with study spaces and learning materials.

In the coming six months, these measures will be further elaborated in consultation with provinces, municipalities, housing corporations, and the COA.