Matthijs Korevaar, Associate Professor at Erasmus School of Economics, emphasizes the purchasing economy in the housing market in an article by het FD. Here he explains what the difficulties are in the housing market and why the purchasing of houses should be encouraged.
Buying houses is a utopia for more and more young people, the increased house prices and scarcity make buying your own house almost impossible. While this used to be self-evident, the buyer age is increasingly shifting. The government regularly expresses sympathy for the starters, through all kinds of measures. Korevaar calls these policies, such as starter loans, politically attractive, but ultimately not fantastic.
Purchase protection
One of the government measures is purchase protection. Previously, there were many investors who bought houses to rent out to earn money. Due to the recent purchase protection, municipalities prohibit investors from buying up all houses. In Rotterdam it turned out that investors purchased far fewer houses, but this meant that tenants had to make way for new buyers. In other countries the question is asked whether these types of actions are not discriminatory, but in the Netherlands this is not actually discussed.
Lowering rents will not immediately lead to a better rental situation, as rental properties will decrease. Korevaar thinks that the selection policy would then not be adjusted and the most prosperous tenants would still have an advantage. According to Korevaar, the dilemmas in the housing market are all political. They ultimately decide who among the population gets priority. Finding a good solution in the short term is therefore very difficult.
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You can read the full article from het FD, 9 February 2024, here.