The article raises some interesting points but also muddles a few things in my opinion.
While I no longer live in the Netherlands, I remain invested in the politics of my home country and have friends and family there. During my childhood squatting was a major issue and only subsided when the housing market became slightly more relaxed. Additionally we had very strict regulations on a large part of the housing stockpile back in the 1980s and 1990s, often with very long waiting lists.
Today the housing market is once again completely overheated. In addition to the mortgage tax relief, which the article rightly shines a light on, there are several other factors at play. There’s a serious lack of new construction, often due to nitrogen pollution levels but also due to the high price for any new construction. With the housing market grinding to a halt many older people just stay put in larger apartments or houses even after the children have left the house. Additionally, as mentioned in the article, the population of the Netherlands has been growing very quickly (one million since 2014?!). All of these people need to be housed. Especially the issue of housing asylum seekers (“statushouders”) is a big issue in the Netherlands as there is a situation where Dutch taxpayers are in a competition with foreigners whose rents are paid for by the Dutch taxpayers. This is obviously a touchy subject and a treasure trove for the right wing nut jobs.
All in all the situation is dire and there unfortunately seems to be no realistic way forward to better it.
Especially the issue of housing asylum seekers (“statushouders”) is a big issue in the Netherlands as there is a situation where Dutch taxpayers are in a competition with foreigners whose rents are paid for by the Dutch taxpayers. This is obviously a touchy subject and a treasure trove for the right wing nut jobs.
I would say that this is a issue for everyone that could think a little.
And I would add that the problem is not that this can be an treasure trove for the right wing (which probably is) but that everyone else is, mostly, denying the problem even exist.Except if you think about it the problem is not that legal immigrants have a right to housing but that our 20 year long right wing neoliberal government has forced social housing developers to compete with for profit developers while hampering them with al sorts of taxes and rules that make it impossible to stay afloat (I’m not even talking profit here as that is prohibited for social housing developers). So forcing market forces in a sector that is not a normal economic market and then giving them extra rules that make it that they cant even compete and survive.
I fully agree with you. Pretending this issue doesn’t exist is definitely not the way to go. That’s a problem the left has had for years now.