Housing corporations are facing mounting financial problems and bankruptcy looms for some, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

Tougher rules from the new government and Brussels, plus the housing crisis, have compounded the problems facing the corporations, experts have told the paper.
The Netherlands has some 400 housing corporations which rent out, maintain and manage 2.4 million homes – around one third of the national housing stock.
Many are small, localised operations but others such as Amsterdam-based Rochdale have upwards of 35,000 homes on their books. In recent years, corporations have also moved increasingly into more expensive property development outside the rent controlled sector.
Empty property
According to Piet Klop of accountants Deloitte, around €500m worth of property is empty but another €1bn worth of development is in the pipeline.
The corporations have also invested some €2bn in buying land but the value of that investment has collapsed with the housing market, he says.
EU rules governing housing corporation borrowing and new government taxes have also played a part in the problems, Klop says. ‘All the signals are against them,’ he told the paper.
Waiting lists

‘It is very possible that some housing corporations will collapse in the coming years,’ said Marc Calon, chairman of the corporation’s lobby group Aedes.
Last year, Aedes said housing corporations posted an average loss of €1.2m.
Housing professor Peter Boelhouwer told the paper tenants and people on the waiting list will be hard hit. ‘Because less is being built, waiting lists in the big cities will grow even longer,’ he said. ‘Money for investing in improvements and neighbourhoods is also drying up.’