Housing corporation Brabant Living throws through Brabant Real Estate Agents and VB & T Brokers 600 rental homes for sale in Oss and 900 in Den Bosch. At a time when waiting lists in Den Bosch, for example, have risen to about 6 years, the corporation is trying to do everything it can to make as few houses as possible available to its target group: the tenants.

The 1500 houses (owned by 10%), many of which have been for sale for far too long, are now temporarily occupied by a colony of disenfranchised and precarious tenants in order to be able to speculate with the duration of vacancy and the price. This while temporary letting is not allowed at all according to the vacancy law. In 2012, Brabant Wonen took part of its houses for sale back into rent because there was no need for them at all. In buildings, e.g. in Den Bosch, where temporary rental is required due to demolition Brabant Wonen is doing everything it can to circumvent the Vacancy Act and people disenfranchised to make. Despite motions in the bossche (page 22) and rural have been adopted politically to curb the use of anti-squat.

Temporary rental as a lubricant for the sale of our rental properties.

In the meantime, the houses for sale are temporarily rented out in an anti-squat, while a corporation does not have any houses that are temporarily vacant due to sale. may rent out according to the Vacancy Act. After all, there is the possibility for normal rental. That is why Brabant Wonen has called in Ad Hoc, which uses anti-squat contracts ( read disguised leases ) secretly rented out the houses. And it continues. The tenants involved were told overnight that their contract would be terminated and that management would suddenly be transferred to another company. In this case, from Ad Hoc to Camelot. The vacancy law is explicitly not intended for the temporary rental of housing association houses for sale. This circumvention of the rent protection through the “loan trick” removes the homes from the rental market even longer. “It is crazy for words that Brabant Wonen is completely against all regulations via dubious anti-squat companies such as Ad Hoc and Camelot our rental properties with strangulation contracts from the rental housing stock” states the BPW. Nor is it expressed in any way the motion to curb anti-squatting in cooperativesCamelot states in a letter to residents that Brabant Wonen will only allow the homes to be sold for a maximum of 6 months. This while the house where Henk lives has been for sale for over a year and still has not been sold. “This is speculation in a collapsed market while tenants are on waiting lists,” the BPW said. Give residents a normal rental contract”

And it gets worse. Instead of renting out the homes again, Brabant Wonen recently stopped outsourcing the “vacancy management” with Ad Hoc. From now on it has been arranged that the dubious anti-squat lessor Camelot may do the rental through the renewed outsourcing construction. Sitting tenants were asked to scratch up within 2 weeks. On the advice of BPW, the tenant has now contacted all kinds of parties involved and it has become clear a day before the move that the Ad Hoc tenants can still transfer to Camelot. It is unclear how many people have already been unnecessarily relocated and duped as a result of this practice.

Henk “I received a letter that I had to leave within 2 weeks while my house has not been sold at all. There is no urgent interest. I looked at one of Camelot's contracts, as it turns out; my privacy is not guaranteed at all and the costs of this disguised lease are in no way justified. Now another strangulation contract is being pushed down my throat, for which more than 600 euros have to be paid first. In addition, Ad Hoc demands that I still pay the rent for the entire month of January. This while I am already in a very insecure income situation” “It is antisocial that such companies try to make a profit out of people's housing insecurity, these mediation companies make lawless and run themselves then financially within the BPW”

One of the contractual conditions that the “new” temporary residents are forced down the throats of to qualify for the house they already live in is Camelot's obligation that the house is occupied by 2 residents. Both residents have to pay 200 euros (excluding utility costs) in loan fee (read disguised lease) and cannot apply for housing benefit since the amount is on loan. remains unclear for what exactly paid. Residents are forced through tying an additional third-party and contents insurance of 15 euros and they also have to meet all kinds of extra contractual conditions. This equates to 400 euros per month per house. If the 1500 homes are all rented out for 6 months, more than 3.5 million in rent will flow into Camelot's big pocket. That while tenants can also live there. With that rental income, Brabant Wonen could have built houses and solved waiting lists. “For example, the money from public housing flows into private pockets. In addition to the al high remuneration of the management of the corporation”

Buy too much.

The Netherlands is addicted to shopping. Home ownership has been stimulated and propagated for years, in 1947 there were still 28% buyers in 2009 there are 55% . The owner-occupied market is heavily subsidized and, at over 13 billion per year, a major cost item. This while almost 30 % of tenants live below the poverty line. The “thrifty” Dutchman is therefore in fact the largest debtor of Europe (link) Betting on even more home ownership and debt accumulation is now extremely irresponsible, especially since this has caused the current real estate crisis. Corporations would do well not to turn their potential target group “middle class” into new debtors. But to urge the government to accelerate the reduction of the mortgage interest deduction of 13 Billion and to apply for building subsidies in order to also realize affordable rental housing for this group. At a time when fewer and fewer people are able to get a mortgage due to the precarious situation on the labor market, the corporation has to go back to doing what they were founded for: building accessible public housing with affordable rents. The army of debtors of 1.3 million people who are under water is now big enough again. The social risks of this speculative housing market bubble that we have known since 2008 are now passed on to the renting population through all kinds of rent increases. In 1951 we still paid 7% in rent now a multiple. The profits are privatized by the up-and-coming elites and the losses are socialized. The banks benefiting from this “game” have been rescued by the state and the taxpayer.

The same "logic" now ensures that people first threatened to be thrown out on the street within the absurdly short term of 2 weeks and are now forced on another precarious contract. All because of contract changes and shadowy shifts with outsourcing to anti-squat companies in places where temporary letting is not allowed at all.

The BPW therefore demands a rental contract for the sitting resident and calls on other temporary and precarious tenants of Brabant Wonen to report to the BPW to look at the possibilities. The BPW wants to ensure that housing associations use their assets as “efficiently” as possible. Withdrawing 1500 rental properties from our rental housing stock is not efficient.

The name Henk has been changed on request. If you want to contact Henk or the BPW, ask your question via the contact form.