Rights in Housing Benefit and Appropriate Housing

Questioner

The website of the largest housing association in my municipality contains information about suitable housing, including the schedule below; Household size / Income limit / Maximum (basic) rent Single-person household regardless of age - Income limit €22,100 / max basic rent €586.68 Two-person household - income limit €30,000 / max basic rent €586.68 Three-person or more-person household - income limit €30,000 / max. rental price €628.76 My household consists of three people. According to this scheme, I would be allowed to rent up to €628.76. However, if I enter my annual income (less than €30,000) on www.toeslagen.nl in the calculation tool, I qualify for rent allowance for a rent amount of up to €710.68. I called the tax authorities about this to check this and they confirmed that this calculation is correct. I therefore wonder what the above scheme is based on and why I would not qualify for a home with a rent above €628. The municipality allocates the homes and cannot answer this question and refers to the corporation. The corporation does not give a clear answer. Do you have an idea of ​​what my rights are?

Lawyer

These standards are the result of agreements that the Netherlands has made with Europe. Europe had problems with Dutch housing corporations also renting out homes to other target groups than those eligible for social housing. In order to avoid problems with Europe, the Netherlands had to promise that housing corporations would rent out 95% of their housing stock to the real target group (low incomes) in the future. That is why the Housing Act, which contains rules for housing corporations, was amended in 2015. People with too high an income must therefore resort to the private landlord market. You can find more information in this link: http://www.woningwet2015.nl/kennisbank/daeb/wonen/passend-toewijzen-0.

Questioner

Thanks for your response. I understand the regulation and endorse its usefulness when it comes to allocating affordable housing to tenants with too high an income. In my case, however, the principle is reversed. I do not qualify for social housing with a rent between €628 and €710, while I can receive rent subsidy for that and can pay for the house in combination with rent subsidy. The tricky thing is that the municipality where I live has hardly any rental properties under €628,-. All properties under this amount are 2 max 3 room properties (so max 2 bedrooms) or in 50+ residential complexes. Due to co-parenting I cannot move outside the municipality. Even with urgency the municipality has not been able to offer a home in the past year. Recently a suitable house became available, but it was not offered because the rent is €710. And soon there will be at least 2 more houses available that are suitable in terms of living situation, but that will also be around €700 in rent. It is also already indicated that I am not eligible for those. It feels like the intention of the law/regulation is being applied the other way around. Do you see it that way too? Can I take action on this? If so, what is the right way? I can file a complaint, join the Woonbond and ask them for support, go to a legal/law shop, but does that make sense? Am I right in feeling that the regulation is being misinterpreted and is now working against tenants with a low income instead of for them? Thank you for your response.

Lawyer

There is not much point in taking legal action against statutory regulations. However, you can contact the National Ombudsman to indicate your situation. The Ombudsman will probably receive more of these signals and advise the government to do something about it. You can also contact the Woonbond, which represents the interests of Dutch tenants. They cannot help you in any concrete way, but in the consultation they have with the ministry they can point out the problems that a group of tenants is experiencing.