Visit to Rochdale, stop the outsourcing construction with anti-squat agency Alvast!

On 15 March, the Bond Precaire Woonvorm, the East Tenants' Association and SP Amsterdam will be organizing a visit to the Rochdale housing corporation. Housing corporation Rochdale thinks it can throw home seekers out on the street without rights through an anti-squat construction.

A number of homes on Afrikanerplein have been withdrawn from regular rental by Rochdale for a total of 8 years and have been managed by anti-squat company Alvast for almost 6 years. Despite promises from Rochdale to let the houses on Afrikanerplein again, they still want to sell the house and put the resident on the street after this long period of withdrawal from the social housing stock. This despite previous promises to the BPW, Tenants Association East, resident and the municipality in June
2012, to return the house to regular rental after 2 months.

For the resident, the use of the anti-squat company has led to trespassing, privacy violations, fines and an imminent
eviction. Rochdale has also had the resident pay rent through this construction under the guise of a loan contract. More info about this: http://huurdersverenigingoost.nl/?p=551 and http://huurdersverenigingoost.nl/?p=317

A corporation has a public housing task and has various legal privileges for this. Rochdale is therefore pre-eminently a professional landlord for homes in the regulated segment (below the housing benefit limit). It is not appropriate to outsource this core task to a shady anti-squat company like Alvast. Housing associations are there to reliably provide a vulnerable group of home seekers with good quality homes.

During the visit, the resident and residents' organizations will petition Rochdale. In this petition, Rochdale is asked to stop the outsourcing construction with anti-squat company Alvast. As a result, we want Rochdale to repair the situation on Afrikanerplein and to offer resident Gabrielle Kitseroo a normal lease.

Are these exceptions? No, a bill to make the Vacancy Act more flexible will be discussed in the House of Representatives on March 14, so that longer, more frequent and liberalized temporary rentals can be made. The term is extended to 7 and 10 years respectively. Homeowners who want to sell their home can, regardless of the points system, temporarily rent out liberalized for maximum rents. However, without any rent protection! Temporary tenants are also denied access to the Rent Assessment Committee. In this way, more and more home seekers end up in a jungle of temporary and precarious forms of housing! In addition, nothing is being done against lawless constructions such as anti-squat. Situations such as at the Afrikanerplein threaten to become a “normal reality” for many.

For more information about amendments to the Vacancy Act, read the letter from the Bond Precaire Woonvorm to the House of Representatives:
https://bondprecairewoonvormen.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Brief-Bond-Precaire-Woonvormen-over-wijzigingen-in-de-Leegstandwet-1.pdf