A number of prominent Christian Democrat economists have criticised party leader Jan Peter Balkenende for stating that the CDA will refuse to be part of a coalition government which wants to make changes to mortgage tax relief.

‘I would rather the party developed an alternative vision for the entire housing market,’ Tilburg professor Lans Bovenberg says in Monday’s Financieele Dagblad.
And fellow Tilburg professor Sylvester Eijffinger also wants changes. ‘Be it left or right, politicians must do something. Mortgage tax relief costs us €11bn a year.
The Liberal party VVD is also opposed to changes to the system but has not made it a crucial issue in the formation of a new government.