Housing agreement averts disaster for Idealis

Housing corporations will be allowed to keep rents at the current maximum for the time being, which is good news for Idealis and other corporations. The WOZ (taxable property value) rule that had been worrying the corporations has been scrapped in the new housing agreement. That coalition agreement plan would have restricted rents to a maximum of 4.5 per cent of the WOZ value, which could have halved rents in Wageningen. Housing corporations were predicting a wave of bankruptcies. Only last week, Idealis decided to put two major new building projects (Lawickse Hof and Dolderstraat/Nobelweg), good for 300 rooms in total, on hold. The student accommodation provider said it was concerned that the proposed rent rules in combination with a new landlord levy would be too much of a burden on the budget. But the new plans look a lot better for the corporations. While there will be a new proposal that still uses the WOZ value in setting rents, the signatories to the agreement also say that this must not lead to ‘a limitation of the earning capacity or other shock effects’. Idealis is not yet able to say whether the new building projects will go through after all. ‘We only just heard the news and we are still studying the small print,’ said a spokesperson.