The Dutch Second Chamber has announced a comprehensive call-to-action that is aimed at easing the burden of housing costs and improving the quality of life for renters with incomes of up to 120% of the social minimum, or about €1,380 for a single adult. The measure proposed by public housing minister Hugo de Jonge received an overwhelming support in the parliament, RTL Nieuws reports.
The Dutch legislators estimate that the low-income households experiencing rental stress or severe financial hardship in the social rental sector can expect an average rent reduction of €57 per month. About 600,000 families are eligible for the newly funded aid but opposition parties insist that the rental assistance should also be available to the 100,000 families and individuals who rent privately.
The Second Chamber is expected to debate the issue next week.
The new measure is part of a series of relief packages and other subsidies announced by the government to alleviate the economic burden of high inflation and rising cost of living.
The cabinet plans to spend around €1 billion this year in an effort to help people pay rocketing bills for energy and food.
The higher expenditures will be mainly covered by hiking wealth and corporate taxes, with a special levy on oil and gas companies whose profits have soared during the energy crisis.
Measures will mainly benefit people on lower incomes through a 10% increase of the minimum wage and higher income-related subsidies for health care and rent.
The tax rate for incomes up to around 37,000 euros per year will be lowered, while cuts in energy and fuel taxes introduced last year have been extended into 2023.
According to the CBS statistics bureau, he annual rate of inflation was an estimated 7.6% in January 2023, down from 9.6 per cent in the previous month.
