MPs, banks and consumer groups are highly criticial of plans to bring in tougher rules for mortgages which are higher than the value of the property, news agency ANP reports on Thursday.

Finance minister Jan Kees de Jager wants to adopt recommendations from the financial services authority AFM which would fix the maximum size of a mortgage at 112% of the property’s value.
The extra 12% would also have to be paid off within seven years or covered by other assets, ANP says.
Children
The AFM also says financial service companies should pay more attention to household spending plans and the household make-up when assessing mortgage applications, a point which has infuriated MPs.
‘Having children can never be a criteria,’ CDA MP Elly Blanksma was quoted as saying.
And Labour prospective MP Ronald Plasterk called on De Jager to tackle the discrepancies in the mortgage system which benefit high earners more than people on low incomes.

Evictions
‘Reliable families will be unnecessarily limited in finding a suitable house,’ said a spokesman for the Dutch banking association.
And he pointed out the Netherlands has few cases of households being unable to pay their mortgages and losing their homes.
De Jager says the aim of the changes is to prevent people from running up huge debts when buying a home. And families with children will not be treated any differently to single-person households, he said.