Home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst must come up with clear rules to cover moving and living expenses for mayors, MPs from across the political spectrum said on Tuesday.

Mayors are required to live in the local authority area they represent and many spend time in temporary accommodation before making a permanent move. The rules must set down exactly what mayors are entitled to claim, the MPs said.
Utrecht’s mayor
The call follows a growing row about the expenses paid to Utrecht’s mayor Aleid Wolfsen before he moved to the city.
Wolfsen is under political fire for stopping the publication of an article in free newspaper Ons Utrecht about the expenses he claimed while living in a rented flat in the city last year. Maastricht University professor Twan Tak told the paper that Wolfsen had wrongly claimed €17,000 to cover the rent. Under current rules, he can only claim hotel expenses, Tak told the paper.
The row led to the entire print run – 120,000 copies – being pulped. The paper’s editor claims Wolfsen threatened to withdraw city council advertising from the paper unless the article was withdrawn.
Earlier this year, the mayor of Den Helder resigned after it emerged he was paid €3,000 a month to cover the cost of the mortgage on his Rotterdam home.