Waiting lists for rent-controlled housing soar

Friday 30 July 2010

People applying for a rent-controlled house in Arnhem now have to wait over 10 years, the Volkskrant reports on Friday.

Fewer people are buying their own homes and leaving an empty social sector house behind and the 2007 amnesty for 27,000 refugees has also pressured housing stocks, the paper says.

In Utrecht, the waiting time has now increased to 6.5 years and most homes which come on the market are allocated to people described as 'urgent cases'. In Amsterdam, the wait is upwards of seven years.

Arnhem council official Gerrie Elfrink told the paper that the council is being forced to house refugees at the expense of ordinary people. He wants a moratorium on new refugees in the city until the state agrees to help pay for their housing.

© DutchNews.nl

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