Finance minister Jan Kees de Jager has given the country’s banks until February 1 to come up with new, tougher rules for mortgages, news agency ANP reports.

The rules will include a loan limit of 112% of the value of the property and a commitment to reduce that to 100% within seven years.
If De Jager is not satisfied by the banks’ proposals, he will draft his own, ANP said.
‘It is all about sharpening the rules which allow people to borrow beyond their means,’ he said. ‘This is in the interests of the consumer. I am not particularly bothered about how this happens, as long as the consumer is properly protected.’