Cabinet helps drive up prices

I too – as a member of the NVM – called on the central government a while ago to take a stronger governing role in the housing market. To be honest, I felt quite a bit of scepticism, because unfortunately the government is more about regulating than stimulating. This is again evident from the intention to reduce the transfer tax on the purchase of a home next year to 0% for starters and to increase it to 8% for private investors. In fact, with this measure the government is helping to further drive up prices on the housing market.
The abolition of the transfer tax (now 2%) for starters seems at first sight sympathetic. On a house of 250,000 euros that will save 5,000 euros, but many starters will immediately use that financial space to offer more on houses within their reach. So price increase!

The increase in transfer tax for private investors also has a negative impact. Most private investors are not unscrupulous house milkers, but make a good contribution to the market for middle-rental houses or free sector houses. They are looking for a fair return and also have to deal with risks and costs. For a house of 350,000 euros, the tax increase means a tax increase from 7,000 to 28,000 euros for them. This will lead to them raising their rents. So here, too, the price increase!

This measure is completely counterproductive. The main problem in the housing market is the enormous shortage: there are already more than 300,000 homes short in our country and that will increase dramatically. This shortage is leading to price rises, but increased government requirements and restrictions also play a role in this. The only answer is: stimulate construction in all sectors and make acceleration possible. Abolish the landlord levy, so that housing corporations will once again have room for social housing on a large scale. Encourage local authorities to make large construction sites available, speed up procedures and avoid complicated and often unaffordable differentiation requirements. That is the only way to bring back the much-needed momentum in housing construction. That is a steering role that will pay off!