Waiting lists for social housing continue to grow in The Netherlands Landsmeer hits 22 years wait .... Waiting lists for social housing have stretched to more than seven years in a quarter of the Netherlands’ 355 local authority
3 -month curfew generates 9 million euros in fines for the Dutch treasury Dutch police handed out a total of 95,000 fines to people for breaking the curfew during the three months it was in operation. The fines have generated over €9m for the treasury since the curfew was introduced on January 23 and scrapped at 4.30am on April 28. People caught breaking the curfew without a valid reason could be fined €95. The curfew was the first in the Netherlands since World War II and the measure, plus the civic unrest that it caused, placed a ‘considerable burden’ on already overstretched police officers, according to a police update. ‘The police registered more than 1,500 demonstrations in the period between January and April,’ the update said. ‘That is double the protests in the first four months of 2020, and 20% more than the more than in the same period in 2019.’
areas, according to research by public broadcaster NOS. The longest waiting list – 22 years – is in Landsmeer, a village just north of Amsterdam, but the waits are similar in other towns and villages surrounding the capital. In Amsterdam itself, the average waiting time for a rent-controlled home is 13 years. The long waits are down to the shortage of social housing – which has a rent of below €750 and has strict income requirements attached. Between 2015 and 2020, the number of housing corporation rent controlled properties rose by 1% while the population grew 3%. ‘I am not surprised by the unacceptable long waiting lists,’ said Martin van Rijn, chairman of the housing corporation umbrella group Aedes. ‘Only building more homes and better regional coordination can reduce this frustration.’ To do this, social housing providers need both direction and financial support from national government, he said. Earlier this year, housing corporations, real estate investors and local authorities said the Netherlands needs to build one million new homes to meet demand. According to government figures, some 60% of the 7.5 million homes in the Netherlands are owner occupied. Private landlords, including investment companies own 8% and the rest are in the hands of the country’s housing associations.
Meanwhile, the public health institute RIVM has said the impact of the curfew on public health is still being calculated and it is too early to say if it was ineffective. The agency’s statement follows comments by acute hospital care chief
Ernst Kuipers, who told a television show on Wednesday the curfew had not had an effect on hospital admissions. The calculation was that the curfew would reduce hospital admissions by 10%,’ he said. ‘But if you look at how hospital admissions have progressed during the period, you can see no effect through the introduction or the change in the time [from 9pm to 10pm].’ Nevertheless, Kuipers said, the curfew had to be introduced to head off the risks presented by the more infectious form of the virus first identified in Britain. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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