Latest update 21:01
The housing shortage in Amsterdam is dire. But the American “real estate investor”, the new term for speculators, is leaving Blackstone hundreds of homes in the capital vacant. GroenLinks board member Rutger Groot Wassink, which temporarily manages the housing portfolio, reported the violations in response to questions from the local service provider. SP asked for clarification after police evicted a house in the De Pijp district of Amsterdam.
AT5 reported:
Groot Wassink writes: “Given the great housing shortage in Amsterdam, the council considers it socially unacceptable to leave homes vacant for so long.” He says the city council is battling “every possible means” of vacant homes in the long term. “It is an obligation to use homes for their intended purpose, which is housing.” (…) The Municipal Councilman believes that the current vacancy law does not provide sufficient opportunities to address vacancies in the long run. Currently, the municipality can only issue fines if the vacancy is not reported, but the city council also wants to be able to issue fines for the vacancy itself. However, after the report and conversation with the municipality, the vacancy will “in many cases” be resolved by the owners.
The answers show that at least 334 properties owned by Blackstone were unoccupied. It is not clear if this is the case because the company wholesales at subsidiaries and the municipality has very few resources to find out.
Eric Flingeth, the leader of the Socialist Party, wants the American speculator to disappear from the city.
In any case, this grasshopper investor shows that he cares little about the needs of the people of Amsterdam.
And so I say: Get Blackstone out of our town!
– Eric Flentge (@ErikFlentge) August 27, 2021
