Change in rent liberalisation limit as per 1 January 2019
8 november 2018
Pay attention! The rental prices have been indexed as of 1 July 2019, which means that a house with 142 WWS points or more as of this date will be qualified as a house in the non-regulated/liberalised rental sector.
In the Netherlands, housing is divided into two sectors: social housing and the free sector (private housing). For each category, different rules apply. Social housing in the Netherlands is mostly meant for people with lower incomes. The rent liberalisation limit (Huurliberalisatiegrens) determines whether a house is categorised as social housing. As per 1 January 2019, The current threshold (2018) is 710,68 euros.
This week, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands published the MG-circular 2018-02. This circular states that the rent liberalisation limit, which was frozen from 2016, will be indexed as of 1 January 2019. This means that as from 1 January 2019 a house will have to have at least 145 WWS points (used to measure the quality of a dwelling) in order to qualify as a house in the non-regulated/liberalised rental sector. This number is currently 143 points. As per 1 July 2019 the maximum rental prices will be re-indexed again. This may cause another change in the WWS points that determine if a house is regulated or non-regulated.
Consequences for the sale of housing association property
The indexation of the rent liberalisation limit may mean that other regulations apply to the sale of housing association property. In the event of the sale of a property, the number of WWS points and the current rent or the sale falls under the regulations for permanently regulated housing, liberalisation or liberalised housing. This distinction is made in the sales rules included in the Decree on Permitted Housing Institutions 2015 (BTIV 2015) and the Ministerial Regulation on Permitted Housing (RTIV).
Besides the indexation of the rent liberalisation limit, the new circular also addresses the increase in state pension age and the new income limits and price index for 2019. You can download the full MG-circular 2018-02 (in Dutch) here.
More information?
Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions about the regulations regarding the acquisition and sale of housing association property.