Buying up cheaper houses in order to rent them out is being curbed in Eindhoven. On Tuesday night, the city council approved a so-called buy-out protection, which keeps investors out.
Local politicians think it is a good idea to keep landlords and investors out of buying up houses up to €350,000. This way, it becomes fairer for starters and people with an average income to buy a house, they assume.
Only the VVD (people’s party for freedom and democracy) voted against. According to the largest coalition party, this would only make a limited number of houses available to people who are currently struggling on the overstrained housing market. The VVD has doubts about the costs of the scheme, because of the necessity to deploy civil servants. That money would be better spent on other things, according to the party.
Other parties had little sympathy for that position. Alderman Yasin Torunoglu also reiterated the importance of the buy-out protection. He sees it as an instrument to make the housing market fairer, because many people cannot buy a house now. After all, investors in Eindhoven have to shift their focus to more expensive houses. Torunoglu also thinks that starter homes will no longer have to be sold far above the asking price with the new measure.
The buy-out protection will take effect in April 2022.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
