More money and people to deal with bad landlords

In 2026 and 2027, the municipality will again allocate extra budget to deal with bad landlords. The ‘property brigade’ will continue monitoring rental properties, and rental support centre Steunpunt Huren will be expanded.

This move follows a motion passed in the city council in July, which called for making the budget, currently funded by incidental resources, permanent.

‘Structurally allocating more funds for monitoring landlords isn’t feasible due to a lack of national funding’, says alderman Rik van Niejenhuis. However, the municipality will be able to allocate 566,000 euros annually in the 2026 and 2027 multi-year budget for additional monitoring under the Good Landlordship Act, which establishes stricter rules for landlords.

Prevention

The funds form part of an annual package totaling around 2 million euros for housing market oversight. This covers, among other things, a property brigade tasked with ensuring landlords adhere to regulations. Non-compliant landlords can face fines of up to 40,000 euros, with penalties publicly announced.

The municipality also aims to take preventive measures, Van Niejenhuis notes. ‘We want to inform students about the housing market situation in Groningen and what they should be aware of. The high number of private landlords here poses certain risks.’

This warning appears warranted, as recent years have seen incidents where landlords attempted to harass tenants by urinating in properties or placing problematic tenants in homes to create disturbances.

Rental support

Steunpunt Huren, which provides tenants with legal advice on renting, will receive an additional 50,000 euros per year in funding, effective immediately. This increase will allow the centre to double its permanent staff: two paid employees will now lead a team of around ten volunteers and take on more complex cases.

This expansion has been a long-standing goal, according to chair Marinus Jongman. ‘Our current capacity has been strained. We hope to handle more and also tackle more complicated cases, such as issues with incorrectly calculated energy labels.’

The centre still needs to hire a lawyer to fill this new role.

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