The special tax which home owners have to pay based on the official value of their house is going up almost 10% next year, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

The eigenwoningforfait is being increased to compensate for falling house prices, the paper says. The increase, from 0.55% to 0.6% of the value, means home owners will pay around the same amount of tax.
Last week, Christian Democrat MPs suggested the home ownership tax be reduced for people who pay off part of the principle of their mortgages on a monthly basis. The tax is seen as a sort of compensation for the government because of the current generous Dutch tax break on mortgages.
On Tuesday, it emerged that the government is planning to make official house valuations public, so that home owners can compared prices more easily. The idea still has to be approved by the Dutch privacy watchdog.