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Important legislative changes with regard to the housing market as of 2022

What important legislative changes will take effect in 2022 with regard to the housing market? The NVM Legal Service has listed the most important changes for the housing market.

Purchase protection as of January 1, 2022

As of January 1, 2022, the "Procurement Protection and Expansion of Temporary Rental Options" Act came into effect. However, the part of the law relating to the extension of temporary rental has been defeated in the Senate. The part relating to the purchase protection did come into effect.

The law makes it possible to introduce purchase protection in an area. The purchase protection must ensure that cheap and medium-priced owner-occupied homes can also be retained in the owner-occupied segment in existing buildings and that they are not bought up by investors for letting. The buyer must therefore occupy a home himself and may not rent it out for a period of 4 years, barring exceptions.

Purchase protection operation
The municipal council is given the opportunity to set purchase protection in the housing ordinance. The municipal council will have to substantiate that the use of the purchase protection is necessary, suitable and proportional for the preservation or promotion of the quality of life in the concerning neighborhood.

The purchase protection only applies to cheap and medium-priced homes. The concept of cheap and medium-priced differs per municipality. A municipality itself must substantiate, on the basis of their local situation, to which WOZ value in their municipality owner-occupied homes belong in the cheap and medium-price segment.

Purchase protection in The Hague
If the Council agrees, from March 1, 2022 it is prohibited in The Hague to rent out a home after purchase. This concerns all homes in The Hague with a WOZ value up to and including € 355,000. Only with a permit is it still possible to buy a property in this price range and then rent it out.

Exceptions to rent out anyway
It is not reasonable in all cases to prohibit an owner of a house from renting out the house. The law provides for exceptions. The permit for rental will be granted in the following situations:

1. Rental to a home seeker who has a first-degree or second-degree relationship by blood or marriage with the owner. For example, the rental of parents to one of their children, or grandparents who want to rent out to grandchildren;
2. Temporary rental of the home if the owner has lived in the home for at least one year and can demonstrate that the rental is only for a maximum of 12 months;
3. Rental of living space that is an integral part of a retail, office or commercial space.

In addition, the municipal council can give the mayor and aldermen the power to grant exemptions in the housing ordinance. Conditions and restrictions can be attached to an exemption. After all, in certain situations it can be unreasonable to refuse rental.

Temporary regulation can be extended
The purchase protection regulation will, in principle, expire on 1 January 2025. An evaluation will be carried out within three years of the entry into force of the Act. It is therefore possible that the purchase protection will be extended.

Moment of transfer of property of importance
The purchase protection only applies to owner-occupied homes that are acquired by name after the introduction of the purchase protection in a relevant neighborhood (by registration of the deed of transfer in the public registers) and to homes that were rented out for a period of less than six months on the date of registration in the public registers of the deed of transfer of that living space to the new owner.

Houses that have been in a rented state for more than six months at the time of transfer of ownership to the new owner and houses that are acquired by name (by entering the deed of transfer in the public registers) before the purchase protection is introduced are not covered by the measure.

Energy label advertising obligation for all real estate will be revived as of January 1, 2022
Since 1 January 2022, the ILT has again maintained the advertising obligation of a valid energy label. It is mandatory to state a valid energy label in the advertisement in which a house (or other real estate) is offered for sale or for rent. The label will therefore have to be applied for much earlier, prior to or at the start of the sales process.

Source: NVM Haaglanden, NVM Legal Service