The protest was called for with a fierce appeal that did not mince words about the 'setting' and background of Provada. That is the place where everyone who wants to profit from the housing crisis, the big construction guys in the lead, comes together. 'Provada is everything that is wrong with our social housing' (...) 'The participants in Provada see housing as a profit model, a market where a house is not to live in, but to make an extreme amount of profit.' But the appeal also included a list of clear solutions:
- Prioritize ending homelessness and preventing precarious and overpriced housing.
- Expropriation of vacant buildings, vacant building land and slum landlords.
- Stop subsidizing parasitic investors.
- Stop the sale and unnecessary demolition of social housing.
- End the financialization of housing and land.
- An end to gentrification and segregation of the city.
There was a program with a high informative content, where victims of the housing crisis told their story. But they all had one thing in common: they refused to accept their fate and offered resistance.
There was also a surprise appearance by the real, albeit resigned, minister Hugo de Jonge. He was interviewed by Mustapha. And unsurprisingly, De Jonge completely agreed with the protest. But according to him, things are now going in the right direction and public housing is on the way back. He proudly refers to the Affordable Rent Act. “…but we are far from there yet”. De Jonge's position is that 'we' also need the construction companies and their financiers. And that is why he went to Provada afterwards.
Abel van Bond Precaire Woonvormen explains what the program is: Provada has been around for 20 years and the housing crisis is bigger than ever. Now it says 'Social housing is back' on the front of Provada, but who made social housing disappear? The same players who now want to make money from the 'return'.
Speakers
1: Maria tenant, Sanne squatter at Heimstaden Den Bosch
They tell what happens to their home/building when it is traded. In their case, the property was sold on and ended up in the hands of the Swedish house farmer Heimstaden. Maria tells how she herself has to fight to get a broken toilet bowl repaired. You have to pay rent, maintenance is not done and the person responsible is unreachable. Sanne explains that in Den Bosch you are on the waiting list for a rental home for 13 years, while a lot of it is empty. So she started squatting. Together with the tenants of the flat in Den Bosch of Heimstaden. Who went to court. Interesting detail: tenants of Heimstaden in Sweden have declared their solidarity. Heimstaden is a prominent participant in Provada.
2) Melissa, from Housing Protest
First discussed Provada, what is behind it, partly by quoting its own website. She outlines how the lobby of the real estate sector works and cites the interview with then minister Stef Blok on Provada ten years ago in which he proudly told how rents had risen. It is the private interests of speculators, and they are not the interests of tenants and residents. She proposes to come back every year and always bigger.
3) Kristian Camelot Zwolle, Doenja on anti-squatting and claiming housing rights
He lives in an anti-squat but does not see his situation as different or better than other home seekers. He has moved three times in four years, without rights. He talks about the abuses when you live in an anti-squat. They are not susceptible to moral arguments, only when their wallets are affected. His message therefore: put an end to anti-squatting, it will come within two or three years. Because the loan agreements are in fact rental contracts. More and more people do not allow themselves to be messed with and refuse to leave, despite all attempts at intimidation. They have already won three lawsuits against the 'landlord' themselves. They want to inspire other anti-squatters to do the same and not to leave buildings when ordered to do so. If anti-squatters prevent real estate from being offered empty, the entire system collapses. In Zwolle, the municipality has already announced that it will no longer use anti-squatting agencies.
Doenja was in contact with people in Berlin who were there at the same time the real estate exchange ZIA protested and translated their statement on the spot.
4) Joyce, about Vesteda/ de Klokkenhof
Joyce tells about the developments in the Klokkenhof in Amsterdam. Previously owned by a pension fund, but bought by Vesteda. 140 social housing units of 30 m². Vesteda wants to renovate, and initially promised to stay within social housing and to give residents a say. But nothing came of that. Now it will be luxury apartments, mid-range rental and private sector. Rent at least 800 euros, plus service costs. Initially, many people resisted, but many have left and have settled. And in the meantime, squatters have moved in, and squatters are waiting. The municipality does not respond and Vesteda continues to storm on, even though the renovation plans have not yet been approved. But Joyce continues to resist and calls for solidarity. Squatters are also welcome.
5) Winfried, We Refuse the Rent Increase
Keep paying the old rent, don't worry about that rent increase. Winfried, from action group Wij Weigeren de Huurverhoging. Explains how their action works. And why it is not the action, but the rent increase that is antisocial. “Organize, stand up and show that you will no longer accept it.”
6) Kees Researcher BPW and global info
(Disclaimer: the author of this piece is writing about himself). About the role of research into the real estate giants and the legal framework that they lobby for each other and use to beat residents over the head with. At European level, the complicated DAEB/Non-DAEB legislation has been established to tighten the screws on social housing. But large landlords and real estate guys like to hide behind it, while their lobby at European level has ensured that social housing was restricted as much as possible, in order to leave the rest of the 'market' to them. Vesteda is even one of those who, together with the Association of Institutional Investors in Real Estate, the Netherlands (IVBN), filed a complaint with the European Commission about government support for housing associations.
The solution: expropriation, starting with Vesteda. The homes for those who live in them, as Kropotkin had stated more than a hundred years ago.
7) Roland, about visit of UN rapporteur
Was ill and therefore could not come, was read out by Mustapha (a part of it): In December 2023, Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, paid a 10-day working visit to the Netherlands. Within a short time, this was a second visit at the highest level. During various working visits, Rajagopal spoke with affected residents and stakeholders about the housing crisis. He concluded his visit by publishing a list of strong recommendations, which he endorsed in an official UN report on March 4.
Although certainly not wholeheartedly, politics acknowledges the abuses and shortcomings in the current housing policy. Let us critically monitor the realization of an actual change of course on all the mentioned points of improvement.
In the meantime it had started to rain and blow. Nevertheless, explanations were added and the promise to come back next year. Just like public housing.
The action at Provada was small but noisy. Although nominally the work of a coalition of ten organisations, the preparatory work had largely fallen on the heads of a few hard workers. Mobilising the supporters had not really succeeded yet. But, was the opinion after evaluation: it was still good that it happened, and hopefully the start of a growing tradition. The conclusion of Abel of BPW: Capital accumulation with real estate also swallows up all parts of the housing landscape. From 'social housing is back', to cooperatives, tackling homelessness, investments in 'mid-range rent' by Vesteda, for example, after 20 years of lobbying via the European Commission to define social housing as poor relief/market distortion. More and more areas of our lives are dominated by market thinking. That self-evident, egalitarian-looking, but totalitarian logic of capital was for me the most shocking thing about this fair.
Apart from the action at Provada, real estate fairs abroad are also increasingly the target of protest actions. We already mentioned the ZIA in Berlin. But also at the largest in Europe, the Mipim in France, it was a hit: https://www.fdiintelligence.com/content/opinion/opinion-mipims-counter-festival-spotlights-europes-housing-crisis-83575
See a photo report about the action at Provada at Doorbraak https://www.doorbraak.eu/strijdbare-actie-tegen-de-vastgoedprofiteurs-van-de-wooncrisis-beeldverslag/
And a report from the real estate boys themselves: https://propertynl.com/Nieuws/Woonprotest-tijdens-steen-des-aanstoots-Provada/2ebc944c-58fa-45a3-b8ad-08f45e42a63f
Report from Left Laser:
