The Dutch competition and markets authority ACM has warned a number of housing agencies about illegally charging tenants fees for finding them a home. Agencies are not allowed to charge tenants’ fees if they are operating on behalf of a landlord but many continue to do so, hence the ACM clampdown. The organisation, which did not say how many housing agencies it had warned, said it will do a second round of checks after the summer. Agencies which are still charging tenants illegal costs will face fines which can mount up to €900,000. Some 70% of rental housing agencies are still charging new tenants fees even though this is not allowed by law, the ACM told broadcaster NOS earlier this year. In the past, agencies would often charge tenants a month’s rent, but since the change in the rules, they now present tenants with bills of around €200 for various costs, the ACM said. ‘Tenants are often required to pay these costs before they can access the home,’ the ACM said. ‘Agencies are abusing the vulnerable position facing consumers in the current overheating housing market.’ Code of conduct Jasper de Groot, founder of online housing platform Pararius, told DutchNews.nl that it should be completely clear to every real estate agent in the Netherlands under what specific conditions tenants can be charged a fee. 'The market is mature and professional enough to survive without these malpractices,' he said. 'We work with a straightforward code of conduct that every agent has to accept before being admitted to make sure they respect the law.' The agencies breaking the rules are having an impact on the reputation of the majority of agencies which do abide by the rules, he said. 'I think it is sad but somehow inescapable that the ACM gets involved to separate the wheat from the chaff.' Amsterdam housing advisory group Woon can help tenants reclaim fees which they may have been wrongly charged.  More >

Amsterdam homes are the least affordable in Europe, with buyers needing to pay 22 times the city's residents' average disposable income for a flat or house, according to research by Moody's Investment Service. In London, home buyers would need to find 18.5 times the average income, and in Paris 18 times, the research, which looked at 10 European cities, showed. Amsterdam houses are not more expensive than in other European cities, but average disposable income is far below Paris and London, for example, pushing the Dutch capital into the top spot. In Paris, the average disposable income was €36,300 last year, but in Amsterdam, it was just €17,500, Moody's said. Disposable income levels have failed to keep pace with the rise in house prices, Moody's said. In 2012, at around the end of the financial crisis, Amsterdammers needed 14.5 times the city's average income to buy somewhere to live. Similar research published in February by real estate broker Knight Frank found house prices in Amsterdam have outstripped incomes faster than in any other global city in the last five years. Knight Frank compared the trends in property prices and income for 32 cities around the world over the five-year period to September 2018. Homes in the Dutch capital grew in value by 63.6%, even though incomes rose by just 4.4%. The average price paid for a home in Amsterdam was €423,000 last year.  More >

Amsterdam council has published new rules for allocating housing in the city which include a quota for bed and breakfasts and giving priority for social housing to youngsters, nurses and teachers. 'A house is meant to be lived in, not as profit driver,' the city's Socialist housing alderman Laurens Ivens said. 'There is a serious shortage of housing in Amsterdam and lots of property is used to make money from tourism or rented out on a room basis, to maximise prices. The city plans to monitor the situation in areas with lots of accommodation for tourists and will impose a complete ban on holiday rentals in some places 'to protect local liveability'. The red light district and the areas around the Kinkerstraat and Haarlemmerstraat have already been earmarked for bans, but first need to meet the criteria, Ivens said. B&Bs will also now have to apply for a city council licence to operate which will run for five years. There will also be quotas for B&Bs depending on the neighbourhood. Licences will only be granted if the owner lives in the property itself. Up to 800 housing corporation homes will be earmarked for young Amsterdammers, who find it impossible to get a foot on the housing ladder, Ivens said. To qualify, youngsters must have lived for six of the previous 10 years in the city.  People working in education and the care sector will also get priority as will people on low to middle incomes. Flat shares Ivens is also cracking down on illegal flat-sharing. It is currently against the rules in Amsterdam for more than two adults who are not related to rent a property unless it has a licence. Some 11,500 properties in the city are currently being lived in by three or more people but 80% do not have the appropriate paperwork, Ivens said. He now plans to bring in quotas for shared housing to make sure that 'family homes are kept for families'. Rental contacts in multiple-occupancy homes will be based per room, giving tenants greater protection and allowing them to complain to a rent tribunal if their rent is too high, the alderman said. The new rules are now up for public consultation and if approved by the full city council, will come into effect on January 1, 2020.  More >