2023-07-12 22:12:53
The housing shortage is greater than ever, and it does not appear that this will change in the short term. A large group of people are therefore left out. These are their stories.
Part of the problem is that the rents are incredibly high, according to the responses to the call that NU.nl made. Many people who responded have little or no savings due to the combination of high rents and the cost crisis (in which prices of essential purchases such as food and energy are rising). And as a result, owning a home is also getting further out of sight.
Like for Jennifer Stork (28). She lives with her partner and baby in an expensive rental home in North Limburg. “That costs us 1,000 euros per month, on my income of 2,100 euros and a benefit from my rejected partner of around 300 euros per month. I also have a large student debt, so almost half of our income has already been used up. posts that we can do almost nothing regarding.”
Social renting and buying are not options for Jennifer and her family. “We can get a mortgage of just over 200,000 euros, but due to the student debt, that is also reduced a lot. At most, you can buy a small apartment in a lesser neighborhood for that. And our income is just too high for most social rent , so the cheapest rental house I can get costs 900 euros per month. We don’t get anywhere with that.”
Income requirement of landlords
Nine Leatemia (25) and her boyfriend are also unable to intervene on the rental market. According to her, this is mainly due to the income requirement that many landlords apply. “There is nothing under 1,100 euros per month, and landlords want you to earn three to four times the basic rent per month. We are both at the start of our working lives. And because we are not married, my income counts. partner only half along. Then you are still not there.”
Nine and her boyfriend now live with her mother in Capelle. “That is often difficult. You get older, you want your own life, you have a job, you want to be able to do your own thing. It feels like a blunder when you meet people and you have to say that you live at home. I can feel that shame on me. I still have the same room as when I was born.”
With service costs of 200 euros per month, it becomes much too expensive
Competition is fierce and diverse in the housing market. Liliane van Dam (28) from Leiden also notices this. “I don’t intervene in Leiden. There are many expats who buy homes, and people who are lucky with, for example, equity in a previous house. I have a budget of 200,000 euros, but there is nothing for sale in Leiden for that.”
Service costs also throw a spanner in the works. “It might work in Leidschendam or The Hague, but then you have a small apartment and you also have to pay 200 euros or more per month in service costs. And then it is really much too expensive. Moreover, you are also talking regarding neighborhoods where I don’t feel safe and with a lot of nuisance from neighbors.”
Rodin Bokhorst (33) has a good job and a good income, but has had no chance to buy anything for himself for five years. “My search area is from Vianen to Hilversum and from Ermelo to Barneveld, but I am a starter and I search on my own. I have quite a bit of savings. But if there is always an outbid between 30,000 and 80,000 euros, then you have been seen. Now mortgage interest has risen and I can no longer borrow enough to stand a chance.”
Time is ticking for Rodin. “I have to leave my rented house in March, especially for young people, and I’m afraid I still have nothing. I’m afraid I’m going from one thing I don’t want – being on the street – to another thing I don’t want – too much pay for a house that’s not worth it – go. And then I’ve done it all for nothing these past few years.”
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Not a fair chance to build a future
Liliane from Leiden fears that she will have to leave her native soil. “I don’t get a fair chance to build a future in the region where I grew up. Not even within a radius of 50 kilometers.”
The situation causes a lot of stress for Rodin. “It definitely has an effect on me, at work and in my private life. I shut myself out, I’m close to being depressed. I often think: today I don’t have to anymore. And that’s very annoying.”
It hits Jennifer especially that she can’t build anything for her son now. “I just want to go on vacation, because I’ve never been. I want a future for him, but I don’t see myself buying a house myself, and I think that’s very sad.”
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