Amsterdam housing corporations Ymere and Woonmaatschappij plan to merge, creating the biggest social housing group in the country, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

The combined corporation will own some 80,000 rental homes in Amsterdam, Almere and the Haarlemmermeer region. The merger plan is currently being looked at by the competition authority NMa.
A spokesman for the two corporations told the FD that one reason for the merger is to free up €65m for urban renewal projects. Corporations will also have to start paying corporate taxes, which means they need to improve their performance, he said.