The land registry office (kadaster) has increased its fees by 22% because of the sharp downturn in house sales, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

Last year the organisation, which collates information about house sales, put its fees up by 25%.
Yet in 2006 the organisation had such a surplus in its reserves that it cut its charges to under the cost price, the paper says. The land registry office is state owned but operates independently.
‘We have no assets left and have already made cuts,’ Dorine Burmanje, who chairs the management board, told the paper. Ministers have given the green light for the fee increase, she said.
‘Eight of our 18 district offices have been closed and we are shutting down two more. Our workforce is being reduced from 2,400 to 2,000. But once the elasticity is gone, you have to increase fees,’ she said.