Minister Keijzer wants to talk with the House of Representatives about middle-rent measures

The number of home sales by corporate and private investors increased to 29,400 homes in the first half of 2025, out of a total of over 760,000 rental homes owned by this group of investors. This is 41% more than in the same period in 2024. Corporate investors are also buying back homes, mainly in the higher-priced segment. The sold homes mostly fall under social rental or middle rent.

To preserve middle-rent homes and student rooms, Minister Keijzer sent four amendments to the rental regulations to both chambers last month. In the housing valuation system (WWS), a WOZ price surcharge must be introduced, the WOZ value of small national monuments must weigh more heavily in the rent price, and the absence of outdoor space should no longer result in penalty points. Additionally, all students must be able to conclude a temporary rental contract once.

Through a motion, the House of Representatives has called not to implement these measures. The measures are precisely intended to quickly accommodate landlords, making it easier for them to continue renting out and ensuring sufficient affordable rental homes and rooms remain available. Recent sales figures emphasize the necessity of this. Therefore, the minister wants to explore with the House of Representatives which measures can be taken to give landlords more room.

In the parliamentary letter, the minister also addresses the implementation test of the Affordable Rent Act, which came into effect on July 1, 2024. It appears that the implementation of the law has generally gone well. However, various parties, including municipalities, need structural support in applying the law. They will be supported in the short term through financing, meetings, and the establishment of training for municipal officials.

Furthermore, the minister will investigate whether the new construction surcharge in the WWS should remain applicable after January 1, 2028. Currently, the WWS includes a 10% new construction surcharge for middle-rent homes delivered after July 1, 2024, and whose construction started before January 1, 2028. This is intended to stimulate new construction. For developers, this deadline can be a bottleneck. They indicate that due to long appeal procedures, they cannot always guarantee starting construction before this date. This may affect the feasibility of new construction projects. By January 1, 2027, the minister will inform the House of Representatives about any extension of the new construction allowance.

Additionally, at the request of the House of Representatives, research has been conducted into the annual indexation of the maximum rent price limits of the WWS. Different methods have been examined to determine annually by what percentage the rent price may increase. Currently, no changes are made to the indexation. The current method, allowing the maximum rent price limits to rise with inflation, provides certainty for institutional investors. This enables them to continue investing in affordable rental homes and cover the annually increasing costs. A higher indexation percentage, for example inflation +1%, could put pressure on affordability for tenants.