There are talks going on about making it nearly impossible for new private real estate investors to buy and then rent out their properties in Amsterdam, reports NOS. In other words, the people who drive up rental prices in the city, by making homes less affordable for the average Amsterdammer, will have to live in them themselves! 

Yesterday, there was news of possibly increasing the fine for illegally subletting to €83,000, while still allowing Blackstone, a big American investor group, to buy multiple homes in Amsterdam and Rotterdam from private homeowners for at least €200m. These disparities within the housing market is not going to help with the immense pressure it is currently under. The problem with homes being bought by these kinds of investors is that it raises questions of affordable rental prices, maintenance of the property, and so on.

This is what our headman had to say a few days ago 😉

Hallo Tweede Kamer en Kabinet. Stop eens met klooien en ga regelen dat mensen die een huis kopen er ook moeten gaan wonen, onze woningmarkt is kaputhttps://t.co/pPeDOxxn4J

— Abuzer van Leeuwen (@AbuzervL) March 12, 2019

What are the officials going to do?

Officials are willing to make exceptions for parents who want to buy a house for their kids to live in in the future, or for working professionals who need to work abroad for sometime. In addition, this will only apply to new properties, and not to existing homes.

Currently, they want to draw up certain measures to make housing cheaper, and this will be included in that. It will be introduced in to the full council by the end of the year. It is, however, still unclear how this will be implemented, and the government is still assessing all the risks and implications involved.

If you’re looking to be a homeowner and intend to live in the property yourself, check out everything you need to know this year. 

What do you make of this move? Let us know in the comments!

Feat Image: Viktor Levit from Pixabay