Social housing sector rents need to be increased sharply to enable housing corporations to make up shortfalls in their budgets, the head of Amsterdam’s housing corporation federation said in Friday’s Parool.

Housing corporations are finding it harder to sell parts of their housing stock because of the financial crisis but need the money to carry out necessary renovations.
‘Houses are not increasing in value and fewer are being sold,’ Hans van Harten told the paper. ‘That means there is less money to invest and it is more difficult to get financing.’
Van Harten said it would help if average housing corporation rents could rise from over €400 to over €500. At the moment, landlords can only put up rent in line with inflation.