Bijlage 4 - Thesis Structural housing vacancy in the municipality of Ww

because for some there has no contact yet been made or they did not respond to the vacancy letter. But looking at this it can be seen that 3 of the houses are having renovations being done and 2 of the houses are currently for sale. Some just mentioned that the house is vacant with a reason a bit more complex these are the people where extra information is needed from. However, most of the vacant houses can be explained. In figure 12.8 (will be visible in the appendix 12.5 (restricted access)) is the district of SprangCapelle where as well now is shown with dots on the location the number of months the house has been structural vacant where the lowest that will be shown is 13 months. As seen in the figure there is a house that has been vacant for more than 19 years with this it first need to be looked if it is a vacant house or a house that is deteriorating and unsuitable to live in, what actually needs to be done for every house, however the longer it has been vacant the more it is of importance. Now looking at figure 12.9 (will be visible in the appendix 12.5 (restricted access)) for the reason of vacancy a comparison can be made as well for the reason why it has been vacant for so long and what now is happening with the houses. Not every house is on this map because for some there has no contact yet been made or they did not respond to the vacancy letter.

But looking at this it can be seen that houses here are mostly doing renovations of some sort. And there are also a few houses that are second houses. So that it why it can be vacant for multiple years. And there is a house that wants to change it function from house to something else. In figure 12.10 (will be visible in the appendix 12.5 (restricted access)) is the district of Waalwijk where as well now is shown with dots on the location the number of months the house has been structural vacant where the lowest that will be shown is 12 months. As seen in the figure there is a house that have been vacant for more than 13 years, with this again it first just as any other house it needs to be looked at if it is deteriorating or unsuitable to live in. with just this figure alone

it cannot be clear why it has been vacant for that amount of time. So, now looking at it together with figure 12.11 (will be visible in the appendix 12.5 (restricted access)) for the reason of vacancy a comparison can be made on the structural vacant houses. Not every house is on this map because for some there has no contact yet been made or they did not respond to the vacancy letter. But looking at this it can be seen that more of the homeowners filled in the form without extra information. There are also a few houses that are for sale, this can be because the asking price maybe too high for the house. Few houses are for rent however this is in a specific complex owned by a corporation, and still there are multiple as a second house, and doing renovations.

Administrative vacancy Bridging Family circumstance Physical interventions Secondary and seasonal use Speculation Not in theory: valid explained vacancy Not in theory: Unclear reasons Not in theory: No Reply Not in theory: Other area function Not in theory: Uninhabitable

So now again looking at the numbers from table 5.5 it is seen that those 106 numbers of structural vacant houses is not that accurate anymore with the reasons. So, in table 5.6 a table is shown of how much vacancy is per reason in the district and the whole Municipality. Where if we look at the overall the causes within the whole of Waalwijk there is only 50 actual structural vacancy where we don’t know the reason of yet. For in this table 5.6 it is important to remember; Speculation is a combination of the Not in theory: Unclear reasons and, Not in theory: No Reply, so this is the reason why that is higher.

Total in Municipality of Waalwijk 5 13 1 15 11

Waalwijk

Sprang-Capelle

Waspik

5 8 1 5 6

0 3 0 7 3

0 2 0 3 2

50 9

28 4

15 3

7 2

12

7

5

0

38 1

21 0

10 1

7 0

1

1

0

0

Table 5.6 Number of structural vacant houses with the reasons in Waalwijk. Created by (de Bresser, 2025).

The structural housing vacancy in the Municipality of Waalwijk is thus generally very low compared to the average that is presented for the whole of the Netherlands. And the reasons of vacancy that were given have mostly been reasonable and is mostly being because of Renovations and people owning two homes. Further on it is people that says it is vacant and don’t give further reasons and that it is vacant with a reason that does not directly fit into one of the categories. If looking at only those 50 structurally vacant houses where the reason is not clear or not given that would be only 0.22% of the whole housing stock in the Municipality of Waalwijk that is vacant without a valid reason.

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5.3. Conclusion The tools that can be used to reduce, track and visualize the structural housing vacancy is the Excel sheet that have been updated and where a few columns were added and removed to make it more user friendly for the different departments within the Municipality. The first things that was being changed is bring the days vacant more to the front and add behind that also how many months vacant and years so each house can be better specified. On how long it has been vacant. Also, in the notes for every department has its own note column so it will not overlap. Another major change is adding the column of reason of vacancy before the address so it can be directly seen with each address if it already has a reason of vacancy and what that might be. This way the Municipality can also see on what they can influence with the structural housing vacancy. And with the tool of the visual mapping, geoportal, it would be better to have layers of how many months a house has been vacant to see what has more of a high priority before deteriorating and a layer of the reason of vacancy as well so it can also be seen per house if something is already being done. These maps and the excel file need to be also more automated with each other so if one updates the other can also automatically be updated.

The visual mapping is also of importance to have more a visual of where in the Municipality the structural vacant house is located. Also looking at the reasons of vacancy they are most of the time valid on why the house has been vacant for a longer period.

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The data from the excel and the maps show that Waalwijk has the most structural vacant houses with 58, followed by Sprang-Capelle with 32, and Waspik with 16 structural vacant houses. That would make a total of 106 structural vacant houses for the whole Municipality of Waalwijk, 0.47% of the whole housing market. However, when also looking at the reasons about only 50 houses have not given a valid reason on being vacant, what indicates an even smaller amount of structural vacant houses with only 0.22% of the whole housing market in the Municipality. So, the actual vacancy is not that high compared what was first thought. In table 5.7 a summary is shown of the percentage of vacancy in the Netherlands, all the vacancy in the Municipality (friction, mutation and structural housing vacancy), just the structural vacancy and the structural housing vacancy after the reasons that have not given a valid reason (yet).

Where and what vacant The Netherlands All the vacancy in the Municipality of Waalwijk Structural housing vacancy in the Municipality of Waalwijk Non valid, or no reasons on structural housing vacancy in the Municipality of Waalwijk

Percentage of vacancy 2% 2.18% 0.47% 0.22%

Table 5.7 Summary of the percentage of housing vacancy within Waalwijk. Created by (de Bresser, 2025).

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6. Case Studies as Best Practices To look at Case studies such as other municipalities in the Netherlands and different countries systems how they are dealing with structural housing vacancy. The National focus of these cases will be first Amsterdam and Utrecht because they already part take in the Experiment under the Lw, where it appears successful. Also looking at the Municipality of Tilburg who is in the process to implementing the vacancy ordinance. And the international focus will be the examples of Belgium, Flanders, and the United Kingdom, who has had more success in reducing the structural vacancy compared to the Netherlands.

6.1. National Case Studies 6.1.1. Amsterdam

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Amsterdam was the first Municipality to start the experiment with the Chw under the Lw since December 2022. And became active in using the vacancy ordinance in reducing Vacancy. In the Municipality of Amsterdam, the vacancy ordinance designates both housing and offices, but in practice only housing is controlled in the Municipality. In metropolitan municipalities in particular, there is (political) attention to the issue of vacancy. In housing, it is often the idea ‘every home is one’ (VRO, 2024a) Amsterdam Municipality calls the vacancy ordinance based on the Lw ineffective and too weak when it comes to enforceability. In general, the Municipality does see a deterrent effect of the vacancy ordinance, which also ensures growth in owners’ awareness that action can be taken on vacancy. From the vacancy ordinance the obligation to report can also only be seen as an indication according to the Municipality of Amsterdam, ‘You never know if the proportion of reports is 60, 80 or 90 percent, so you don’t know if you have everything in view’. (VRO, 2024a)

Between the periods of 2016 to 2022, the Municipality of Amsterdam received around 118 reports each year that a property was vacant under the regular vacancy ordinance. As many as 434 properties were reported vacant in 2023, and as of the 1st of March 2024, 579 vacancy reports from owners. There have already been 430 cases positively completed. There are also 880 addresses pending due to alerts from local residents and own research, here only 260 addresses have been written to report vacancy. This takes longer because of several investigations have to take place first. Another reason that only some of these reports resulted in a letter of formal notice is that after investigation, the property was not found to be vacant for more than six months, the address has no residential function or the property is used as a secondary and /or seasonal home (De Jager & Gemeente Amsterdam, 2024). The way of working required by the ordinance process can also be a challenge for the Municipality. Working integrally with different departments (BSD, VBL, LTH). Amsterdam indicates that different considerations are made about the best approach in each individual process. Amsterdam’s ordinance process goes as follows:

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6.1.2. Utrecht

It starts with a report from the owner or neighbourhood. There is then an inspection whether the property has been vacant for more than 6 months. If so, then a letter is sent, requesting that the vacancy be reported within 2 weeks. If this deadline is exceeded, the owner is informed of a possible fine. For the owner that makes a notification on their own the first part is less applicable because they have reported it. Within the following two months, an on-site interview is held with the owner so that the conditions of the property can be assessed immediately. This can lead to a vacancy decision via the LTH department. This sets a deadline for suitability and later a deadline for occupation. On compliance with the vacancy decision, a penalty may be imposed. (VRO, 2024a)

In table 6.1 it is further visible how the Municipality of Amsterdam uses the Chw in combination with the Lw, continued on from table 3.1. Vacancy Act (Lw) Obligation to report

6 Months

Possibilities experiment Crisis and Recovery Act (Chw) 3 Months

Amsterdam

Utrecht

6 Months, with a Fine 2 Months

6 Months, with a Fine 2 Months

Conversation with owner Deadline for putting into use for occupancy, following decision Impose rent

3 Months

2 Months

Not possible

Minimum of 1 Month

2 Months

Minimum 1 Month

Not possible

Possible in the decision

Possible, not yet applied

Obligation to permit temporary letting under the Vacancy Act

Not possible

For Vacancy with demolition or renovation

Possible, not yet applied

Possible, only in cases of speculation Possible

Table 6.1 Comparison of Lw in combination with the Chw and without, with examples of Amsterdam and Utrecht. Retrieved from Handreiking Evaluatie van de Leegstandwet (2024), by VRO, 2024a. Translated/ Recreated by (de Bresser, 2025)

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After Amsterdam started becoming more active in using the vacancy ordinance in combination with the Chw. Utrecht also saw an opportunity for them to partake in this experiment, they did so mainly to gain insight into housing vacancies in the Municipality. They started actively using the vacancy ordinance in combination with the Chw in October of 2023. In the Municipality of Utrecht, the Vacancy ordinance only focuses on housing. And the Municipality of Utrecht just like a lot of other municipalities (The Hague, Hoorn, Terschelling, Etc.) also use the saying of ‘Every home is one’. (VRO, 2024a) The Municipality of Utrecht also told RIGO, who is doing the evaluation for the ministry that the vacancy ordinance at least counteracts administrative vacancy. And that they get faster in contact about why the house is vacant. Like Amsterdam they also see a deterrent effect, with people solving the vacancy themselves with the increasing pressure in the vent of inheritance or divorce. However, the Municipality of Utrecht still found at the time of the evaluation was being made the effectiveness of the vacancy ordinance difficult to determine. (VRO, 2024a) The Municipality of Utrecht sees the housing vacancy often as understandable and/ or temporary in nature.

For as far as the Municipality of Utrecht is concerned in terms of housing vacancy, it is mainly administrative vacancy, divorces, inheritances, second homes and renovations (VRO, 2024a). Also in article ‘Leegstandsverordening in Utrecht Werpt Vruchten Af; 167 Woningen in Gebruik’ (De Utrechtse Internet Courant, 2024) they have a graph displayed of the housing vacancy of corporations within the Municipality of Utrecht where different causes of vacancy is displayed of 1141 addresses with the largest category in that being demolition/renovation see figure 6.1, where displayed in that only 30 are vacant, 5 are unsuitable to live in, and 11 are still being researched. The rest of them already has a reason of being vacant.

Continuing on, the Municipality of Utrecht says that the vacancy ordinance and the upkeep would need three to four hundred thousand euros a year. For instance, inspectors are needed for interviews and jurists for the vacancy decree. The Municipality of Utrecht does estimate that for a smaller Municipality it is not really doable. Because it takes a lot of capacity across the departments. The Municipality of Utrecht does not even have enough capacity to visit the addresses that have not responded to the letter of the Municipality. However, this is expected to happen after the first wave of vacancy is improved (VRO, 2024a). Even though the approach for Amsterdam and Utrecht is very similar how they use the Lw in combination with the Chw, they also have a few differences here and there. Utrecht’s ordinance process goes as follows: Owners get a letter after 5 months of vacancy to report the vacancy. If not done so in time, then after the 6 months the owner again will receive a letter that says if they do not report they will get a fine. Two months after the report of vacancy there will be a conversation between the owner and the Municipality. At this point a vacancy decision may be issued or after 2 to 3 months after the visit if the owner did not do anything after the conversation (this depends per case). This conversation is held in the municipal office.

If a house is vacant because too much rent is being asked, then the rent is calculated by an appraiser. The rent is imposed only in cases of speculation. The Municipality of Utrecht does not want to use generic amounts for the penalty payment, but calculates it case by case (VRO, 2024a). In table 6.1 it is further visible how the Municipality of Utrecht uses the Chw in combination with the Lw, continued on from table 3.1.

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6.1.3. Tilburg Tilburg is incorporated in the case studies because there have been multiple articles that appeared online that has an influence on Tilburg. These articles include: ‘PvdA vindt dat gemeente meer moet doen tegen leegstand.’ (Soethout, 2023), ‘Tilburg pakt langdurige leegstand aan: meldplicht voor woningeigenaren, anders volgt een boete.’ (Van Hest, 2025), ‘In Brabant staan 25.000 huizen leeg, maar dat cijfer is bedrieglijk, want dit zijn de oorzaken.’ (Van den Heuvel, 2025). However, because Tilburg is also working on the vacancy and is a Municipality near Waalwijk, there is already a connection and a way the Municipality of Waalwijk can learn from them. The decision came to get an interview with them about housing vacancy and their process and opinion on the topic (full interview transcript are presented in Appendix 12.7). During the interview it was first discussed why the interview was planned where it was also mentioned the news articles about Tilburg vacancy. With that it was immediately said that those are almost never true. So even tough three articles are mentioned here before there will be no deeper dive in those specifically.

Figure 6.1 Reason housing vacancy corporations Utrecht. Retrieved from Leegstandsverordening in Utrecht Werpt Vruchten Af; 167 Woningen in Gebruik by De Utrechtse Internet Courant, 2024.

When this interview happened the data for the Municipality of Waalwijk was still being collected. Asking about how Tilburg had/is collecting data for them was also still a bit unclear because as was mentioned the data from CBS is outdated and not UpToDate it falls about 2 years behind on the reality. So, data is initially identified through the BRP and the WOZ, like this research also is doing. However, this does only indicate if someone is registered not whether the property is actually vacant. It was during the interview also interesting to learn that the vacancy ordinance in Tilburg is mostly a political driver. Where a fast scan was done about the vacancy and a pilot for that was presented this would not give enough for the council to tackle

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vacancy where the council thus decided to adopt a vacancy ordinance, this discussion is visible in the council meeting 27-01-2025 (Vergadering Raadsvergadering 27-01-2025 Gemeente Tilburg, 2025). The ordinance that Tilburg is creating is based on the model of VNG that is also in the appendix 12.7 and will take part in the experiment under the Environmental law (before the Chw) it also incorporates elements from Amsterdam and Utrecht. The ordinance is made up like mentioned in chapter 3.1, however because Tilburg will be part of the experiment, they will have the possibility to impose fines, or a formal order. Like mentioned in 6.1.1 Amsterdam and 6.1.2 Utrecht. In Tilburg in the Vacancy ordinance, they are not only including housing vacancy but also commercial vacancy. This is because they also notice more and more commercial buildings becoming vacant for a long while. This is not optimal according to the civil servants, so they advise if the Municipality Waalwijk wants to make a vacancy ordinance keep it on one topic. Another concern is the capacity within the Municipality for this task. Where the creation of the vacancy ordinance takes time from civil servants and who’s schedule is mostly already full. It now also adds to keeping the vacancy list UpToDate and talking with the owners about the vacancy etc.

Where in the interview was mentioned that they talked with Amsterdam and told Tilburg that they have ten people on the Housing vacancy with this being their primary task.

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Structural housing vacancy in municipality Waalwijk

With the process of creating the vacancy ordinance they also stumbled upon a few dilemmas: A woman has a second house does not live there always had a renter but now she is getting to pension and move back to the house in 3 years’ time. Her case does not fall under temporary letting under the Lw. And as the Municipality you have to think about protecting the tenants right but also fixing the vacancy problem. In the health care you have revalidation homes and people move there for help in cases. But it is not a permanent living situation, so people keep their homes. And after a time, they are done with the revalidation and have to move back to their house. Someone with an old property of offices want to make it housing. However, every place you transform into housing. The people who will live their also create more demand in the job market for office space. And because of the bad upkeep of the properties can be a reason people move out of it. Further on it was discussed that they are still looking into who should do the talking with the owner as the second step of the vacancy ordinance. From what department they should be and if they have the right skills to talk with someone and kind of start them to using the property again. And lastly it was also made clear that there is a lot of confusion between vacant properties that is possible to reoccupy with the Lw.

And properties that are vacant for years, are deteriorating, and unsuitable to live in, for these other laws are applicable and the Lw, can only be a prevention before it happens and not a solution for every property to fix the vacancy (with a select few exceptions). To see opportunities with these deteriorating buildings it was maybe advised by some people to the Municipality of Tilburg to talk with the real estate agents to have them help the owner make the building a bit better for eventual sale or have them sell it to people that like to. However, this has to be from initiative of the real estate agents, the Municipality cannot appoint a real estate agent to help people.

In 1980 some national acts and legislations were no longer a federal matter, but for the regions of Belgium that is why the focus in this research is thus on the Flemish region instead of the whole of Belgium. After that to start to tackle housing vacancy the Flemish introduced the decree of 1995 where the vacancy register was introduced however only for businesses. After that it was quickly realised that the housing should also be included in the vacancy and in 1996, they started with imposing a tax on vacant houses and buildings (Dobbelear, 2012).

Next up in 2009 the Land and Property policy was introduced in this is a generalised implementation of the municipal vacancy tax. And in 2010 the vacancy tax was transferred from region to the Municipality. Where there were a few rules and procedures that need to be kept the same. He changed happened because municipalities have better view on what is happening to the building and house than the region. And from this point forward it was mandatory for municipalities to have a vacancy register, before it was optional (Dobbelear, 2012).

In 2004 and following shortly after 2005 the first major changes were made to the decree of 1995 to keep it more UpToDate and make it more a positive stimulating regulation. With before it being taxed by a suspicion of vacancy, will it from this point be a technical report with a list of indicators that each have penalty points to see if it is vacant. And if eighteen penalty points are reached it is considered vacant (Dobbelear, 2012).

6.2. International Case Studies 6.2.1. Belgium Flanders In Belgium Flanders they have a bit of a different approach to handle with housing vacancy and has been tackling the problem as long as in the Netherlands. The vacancy tax in Flanders Belgium was also an inspiration for a motion in the second chamber which therefor also resulted in the evaluation of the vacancy act (2024). The way how they are handling vacancy in Belgium Flanders was also taken into account by the evolution of the Dutch vacancy Act (2024) (VRO, 2024a). In Belgium Flanders, there has also been a tax on vacant properties for quite some time. It has also been updated and revised several times. The report of Dobbelear (2012) explained up to 2010 how the vacancy policy has changed over the years in Flanders. Furthermore, there is up to 2017 also a bit of information about the Flemish policy thanks to the report of Vink (2017). And from 2017 until now is gathered at the Flemish codex from the Flemish government. See in figure 6.2 a timeline of the laws and policies of the Flemish government that had an influence on the approach to reduce housing vacancy.

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Figure 6.2 Timeline of law and policies on vacancy in Flanders Belgium. Information Retrieved from Dobbelear (2012), Vink (2017), and the Vlaamse overheid (2021). Created by (de Bresser, 2025).

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Structural housing vacancy in municipality Waalwijk

To continuing on that the Municipality has more the reign in their own hands with the vacancy before 2017 there was still one distinction to keep the Municipality from tackling vacancy fully. ‘In Flanders, a distinction is made between vacant houses and buildings on the one hand and uninhabitable houses and buildings on the other’ (defined in the footnote of Vink, 2017). These categories were also taxed at different levels until the 1st of January 2017. The Flemish region taxed uninhabitable houses and buildings. While structural vacant houses and buildings were taxed at a municipal level. So, from 2017, municipalities are also taxing uninhabitable houses and buildings. This is because municipalities would still have better and immediate insight into the causes of vacancy (Vink, 2017). And lastly the change was made in 2021 with the introduction of the Flemish housing codex where within is stated, the regulations that provide the basis for the vacancy tax in Flanders come from the Flemish region according to the 2021 Flemish Codex housing Article 2.10 paragraph 2 contains the definition of housing vacancy; ‘A house is considered vacant when it is not used for a period of at least 12 consecutive months in accordance with; sub-paragraph 1 residential function … & sub-paragraph 2 municipal ordinance defined function … ’ (Vlaamse overheid, 2021).

Flemish municipalities must use the beforementioned definition to impose a vacancy tax. Municipalities in Flander compared to the Netherlands are allowed to determine their tax policy in full autonomy, as long as the law is not violated (VRO, 2024a). About 88% of municipalities in the Flemish region use a vacancy tax tailored to local circumstances by 2024 (264 Gemeenten Heffen Een Belasting Op Leegstaande Woningen En Gebouwen, 2024).

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Flanders is tackling vacancy with three instruments: a monitoring, fiscal and financial instrument. The monitoring instrument consists of authorising municipalities to keep a vacancy register. They have the fiscal instrument which would be a so-called ‘krotbelasting’ if the property is listed in the inventory for more than twelve consecutive months, this is kept by the Flanders Spatial Planning Agency. And then the financial instrument which is grants for renovations when a house is used as social housing (Vink, 2017). Flemish municipalities can impose their vacancy tax on properties listed in a vacancy register. Before a property can be included in it the Municipality has to prove it is vacant. One way of how they do this is by proving that no one is registered on the house. The property is then inspected on site to gather further indications. Not everywhere this is done equally thoroughly, and properties may be forgotten as this is also very labour-intensive (VRO, 2024a). The Flemish region’s experience shows that the tax works in combating vacancy and most properties disappear from the register in a year or two. The VNG favours a local tax with options for customisation, with the burden of proof on the owner. As the tax in Flanders is effective and most owners then choose to sell or rent or start reusing the vacant house (VNG, 2025).

There is no concrete research on the effects of the vacancy tax in Belgium (VRO, 2024a). The main difference between the Belgian Flemish and Dutch model, is that in the Dutch model a fine can be imposed for the failure to report. And with the experiment under the Chw a penalty under payment can be imposed. The different with the Flemish vacancy tax and the penalty payment is, in particular, the structural nature of a tax and the question of who bears the burden of proof. In the case of the tax with precise criteria, the owner has to prove that it should not apply. And with a fine and a penalty payment, the Municipality imposes it after substantiation (VRO, 2024a).

6.2.2. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, there has also been a few approaches to address the housing vacancy. Some of the elements of the United Kingdom approach is the Empty homes Strategies and the use of taxes with the Empty homes premium. Within the United Kingdom there are housing policy powers partially devolved between the different countries (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) there were slightly different approaches thus the most prominent focus will be on England. The main issue for vacant properties in the United Kingdom is due to speculation also known as buyto-leave (expression used in the United Kingdom when a property remains empty so the owner can benefit of increasing market prices.) (FAP, 2016). The first time something can be seen about reducing the vacant houses is in the Housing act of 1985, what gives power to the local authorities to take over land, houses, and properties this is mainly to increase the number of houses and bring back empty homes into the market. Following that is the Town and country planning act of 1990 brings power to get land that is needed for community strategies and local development. Here the Compulsory purchase order (CPOs) became a thing in the United Kingdom. The CPOs on empty properties may be justified where there appears to be no other chance that it is being as a home.

Before the CPOs can happen there has to be shown that there has been contact with the owner to bring the home back into the market, or if the home is interfering with human rights. (What Powers Do Local Authorities Have?, 2024). Next up there is The Housing act of 2004 which allows the municipalities to use an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to make sure empty properties are used for housing. EDMO work for the local authorities to ‘step into your shoes’ and make sure empty properties will be occupied and managed, where the owner will stay the owner of the property however the local authorities are allowed to make improvements to the property

with the rent, they receive of letting the property. These EDMO can be used on houses that for at least 6 months have been empty, and it can be an Interim EDMO that last 12 months, and a Final EDMO that can last up to seven, 14 or 21 years (What Powers Do Local Authorities Have?, 2024). Since 2012 from the Local Government Finance Act the Empty homes premium was introduced this put taxes on structural vacant houses. The property may be charged if it has been unoccupied and unfurnished for two years or more. This can be up to 50% of the council tax on the property. There are here and there some exceptions on this tax, these are if the house is a primary residence of a member of the armed services and thus is absent because of such service. And if multiple houses are part of one property and are used together. It was made clear in this act that the billing should not happen to properties that is genuinely on the housing market for sale or rent. The local governments need to consider reasons why the house is unoccupied with looking how long it may have been for sale or rent and how much is the asking price for it (“Council Tax - Empty Homes Premium,” 2013).

In England, the option is also available that if an owner rents out their property to a renter chosen by the council for a long-term contract of 5 to 10 year, they can get a grant to cover 50% of the costs needed for a renovation (FAP, 2016). However, homes that have been empty for 2 years can get a grant up to £5,000 per home to bring them back to standard. There are also loans for £10,000 and £20,000 however there are some different ways when someone can apply for that and how fast someone should pay it back (Council, 2025).

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6.3. Conclusion In 2019 the Homes act was also introduced in England so not the whole United Kingdom, this act should make sure every home is fit for human habitation, which means they are safe, healthy, and free from things that could cause serious harm. This forces tenants to keep their houses in a liveable state so also the vacant homes should be kept liveable. This is for that a prevention of abandonment and neglect of the houses (Guide for Tenants: Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, 2019). In 2024 The empty homes premium was updated and strengthened so that the councils can charge the premium on homes that have been empty for one or more years (this was as previous mentioned two years). And the councils are able to charge on a higher percentage. They can now charge up to 100% additional council tax for empty homes between 1 and 5 years. 200% for empty homes between 5 to 10 years. And up to 300% for homes that have been vacant for more than 10 years. This is also for second homes where they can now charge up to 100% additional council tax on second homes in their area. They are still also able to go for a lower percentage, but these are the maximum (Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, 2024). As mentioned before the United Kingdom also has restricted the second homes.

Where in some towns all new construction is only allowed for permanent residents. And local tax rates have doubled in some towns for second homeowners (FAP, 2016).

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The United Kingdom experience that measures as a tax to owners can motivate people to bring their properties back in use. While the effectiveness varies with each strategy. In the Unted kingdoms experience there is a lot to decide by the local authorities however, that also means for these local authorities need to stay active in monitoring to combat the vacancy. And with the tax what also was shown in the Flemish model is that the burden of proof is more on the owner than the Municipality it they do not want to pay the taxes.

Looking at other cases of municipalities and other countries how they handle structural housing vacancy there has been some success here and there however, not all the methods and strategies that were applied there could be applicable for the Municipality of Waalwijk. However, there are a lot of opportunities and struggles to learn from, that can be included in Waalwijk in some way or another. First of the approach of Amsterdam and Utrecht in these cases it shows that a vacancy ordinance in combination with the previous Crisis and Recovery Act has more effect on the vacancy ordinance by putting more pressure on the owners of the vacant properties. There is shown that a clear team that can work together from different departments and focus on housing vacancy can bring back a lot of houses to the housing market. However, these strategies they use does demand significant financial and organizational resources. Where it is seen in the Amsterdam case that more of half of the cases have been completed positively. And for Utrecht too most of the vacant properties there has been something happening that was not visible before and of the 1141 cases only 25 could be with certainty said they are vacant the rest dealt with mostly renovations of some kind. Tilburg is still in the process of creating the vacancy ordinance in combination with the Crisis and Recovery Act.

And in their approach, they made a quick scan of what is vacant, but they don’t know the reasons. They would advise as well if a Municipality would start looking into vacancy that they first try to see what is actually vacant and why. Because if everything is crossed off, they presume to be only left with like a handful of vacant houses. Tilburg also stumbled upon a few dilemmas that cannot be incorporated into the vacancy ordinance but needs each an own different approach to include it back in the housing market.

Looking beyond the Netherlands, there is Belgium Flanders that have a vacancy tax that people need to pay if their house has been vacant for more than a year. This is not a one-time fine that they impose what is the case for the Netherlands but a standard tax. Belgium also shifted more the burden of proof to the owners that a house is not vacant if they do not intent to pay. This is more an enforceable way of dealing with housing vacancy on a local level. Similarly, there is also the case of the United Kingdom, where the housing vacancy tax also increases more the longer it stays vacant. However, to bring these houses back there has also been some grants that people of vacant houses can request to help them update the state the house is in. And also, management orders are there where the Municipality can take control or buy out the building to improve it themselves. The national case studies examples require an adaptation of the local context with a consistency in monitoring, clarity, and proactive municipal action, what also requires a sufficient capacity in the Municipality to focus on the housing vacancy tasks. However, the international examples show that if form a provincial or national wide scale a tax could be implemented, on local level it then would become easier to monitor the vacancy.

And the responsibility then lies with the homeowner to prove the house is not vacant so they don’t have to pay the tax than, with the Municipality who has the responsibility to show that a house is vacant in the Netherlands.

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7. Strategies on Structural Housing Vacancy To figure out how the Municipality of Waalwijk can reduce the structural housing vacancy there has been a few strategies throughout the report that have been briefly mention that could be of use. Within this chapter these strategies will be highlighted and mentioned and be explained on what these strategies could be applicable for the reducing of structural housing vacancy for the Municipality of Waalwijk. With its goal, who does what and some challenges that may be a problem.

7.1. Strategy Overview To have a quick overview there is this table 7.1 shows each strategy and in a few words what its goal is, what the target area is like organization, legal policy, communication, tools, and use of space. And lastly also a row to show where this strategy is also mentioned and from what chapter or sub chapter this strategy comes from. With The vacancy ordinance from the legal framework. And what was seen in what the Municipality is currently doing, with some improvement where necessary. To the case studies of using the vacancy ordinance and dilemmas the municipalities have seen.

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However, the international examples have not fully been included in these strategies because these are for what the Municipality can do. And the vacancy tax that brings a lot of advantages shown from Flanders, Belgium and the United Kingdom needs to be first organised from a national level. So, for that the very useful vacancy tax is not in these strategies for the Municipality. These strategies each are more worked out in the sub chapter 7.1.1 up and till 7.1.9. Strategy Communication with homeowners Communication to residents Fixi notification Geoportal Internal communication Excel Sheet Task distribution Uninhabitable houses Vacancy ordinance

Goal improve communication and encourage to bring the house back to market Increase resident involvement, show something is being done Include option for vacancy notification, for residents to report Make vacancy more visible to track and monitor Improve communication between departments on structural housing vacancy Make the excel clearer and user friendly Improve distribution of task between departments Prevent this happening, improve quality of life

Target area Communication

Chapter 4.2.3; 6;

Communication

1.1; 6.1.1; 4.2.1;

Introduce the option on legal policy matters that can be done

Legal policy

Tools Tools Municipal organization Tools Municipal Organization Use of space

4.2.2; 5.2; 4.2.3; 4.2.3; 5.1; 4.2; 6; 2.2; 3.1; 6.1.3; 3.1; 6;

Table 7.1 Overview of the strategies. Created by (de Bresser, 2025).

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7.1.1. Communication with Homeowners The strategy of Communication with Homeowners is a strategy that almost speaks for itself. This is one of the main things to reduce the structural housing vacancy to talk with the owners this can be companies, social housing corporations and individuals. If you have communication with the homeowner, you can get faster the reason of why it is vacant and encourage them to do something against the vacancy. Communication with Homeowners was earlier something that was also identified in the chapter 4.2.3 and 6. As identified in chapter 4.2.3 Letter of Vacancy the homeowners receive a letter that is asked if they can fill it in regarding the house that has been identified as vacant. After it is filled in it depends on the detail how the filled it in. But the team of VBL would make a call asking for extra information.

And continuing in chapter 6 the case studies the Municipality of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Tilburg are or will work with a vacancy ordinance where the second step is talk with the owner in the Municipality of Amsterdam the do an on-site interview about the property, this is so that they also can inspect it. And Tilburg mentioned that they also still question who should talk with the owner who is there also to motivate the owner to take action on the vacancy. With the cases of Belgium, Flanders, and the United Kingdom they have put the burden of proof on the owners if they do not want to pay the tax. In the Netherlands this is not the case here the burden of proof is with the municipalities.

7.1.1.1. Proposed Actions To improve this strategy can be done with the following actions that are proposed, this is more of less in a timeline of how it goes to get in contact and keep track of the contact. See figure 7.1 for the timeline of actions. The department of VBL now takes care of the steps of the letter, call for missing information and excel. They will continue with this however the encourage and follow up steps for no answer are new that needs to be implemented. The difference way to encourage the owners what to do with their house can be renting, selling or in combination of one of the other strategies. The department of LTH will not be involved in the first few steps only when there may be a site visit necessary or there is the need of alternative contact method. If they have not been responding. And the department of BSD are prepared to take the social housing corporations to call them for missing information because there is already close contact with them regarding housing, however not yet about structural vacant housing.

Figure 7.1 Timeline of actions for communication with homeowner.

7.1.1.2. Expected Impact

7.1.1.3. Potential Challenges

The expected impact from this strategy is to gain more clarity on why houses are vacant and try to encourage the owner to do something against the structural housing vacancy. This creates also a clearer overview of what is happening, and which owner may need support or further follow ups. By having a good communication with the homeowners, the Municipality can become more proactive and strategi in the vacancy management.

The challenge with this strategy is that the calling of the owner and keeping the Excel updated may take more time and may require more capacity. However, after the first wave of vacant houses has been processed it should become less and take less time to process it all. Another big challenge can be that some owners may be unreachable or refuse to cooperate to get the vacant house back into the housing market. The follow up timeline is also something that can bring challenges with it not being clear, and the responsibility between the teams needs to be communicated as well.

7.1.2. Communication to Residents

7.1.2.1. Proposed Actions

The strategy of Communication to residents is not as much for the reducing of structural vacant houses. However, this strategy is more to show the residents something against the housing vacancy is being done. Also, to bring more awareness how the residents can be involved in reducing the structural housing vacancy. This has also been identified in chapter 1.1 and 6.1.1, in chapter 1.1 is the overview of this research with the reason why this topic is researched. There was also mentioned that there have been multiple signals from society about the housing vacancy. Also, in chapter 6.1.1 in the part of Amsterdam it is mentioned that residents can also alert the Municipality of vacancy, within the residents reported about 880 addresses and from that 260 have been written to, to report the vacancy.

To involve residents in the housing vacancy and show that there is something being done, it does not have to be a whole campaign but informing on the Municipality webpage a subject on the housing vacancy can be enough. Within this page it needs to explain what the Municipality sees as structural housing vacancy, that there can be information found on CBS leegstand monitor and Waalwijk in Cijfers and explain that this information is not from now but a year ago. And that it does not go in defining why it is vacant but just the numbers of how many houses are vacant. Continuing it will touch upon the most common reasons a house may be vacant in the Municipality such as renovations, second home, etc. After all that there can be some text what the Municipality currently does against vacancy, what is trying to get in contact and see why it is vacant, and hopefully also motivate the homeowners to take action in getting the vacant house back into use. Lastly there is a part on what the residents can do to help is if they think or see a house that has been structural vacant than notify it in Fixi to make a notification to the Municipality.

Created by (de Bresser, 2025).

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7.1.2.2. Expected Impact

7.1.2.3. Potential Challenges

7.1.3.2. Expected Impact

7.1.3.3. Potential Challenges

From this strategy it is expected to inform residents that the Municipality is being active for the housing market. With the mindset of ‘every house is one’, and have the residents help where possible in this. What also creates more clarity and visibility that action is being taken with the difficult housing market that is currently happening.

That it is not always easy to recognise vacancy from the outside by residents, what can lead to false reports in Fixi. And making sure there are no idea of the Municipality creating promises with bringing every vacant house back into use. Also not tear down other sources of information but inform that data that is available online may be a bit outdated, but not say it is false because the data comes first from inside the Municipality.

This strategy is expected to involve residents and give the Municipality extra eyes on the street. To have residents help with seeing what may be vacant but is not vacant according to the BRP and see why that may be the case. It also can also show residents concern if they know that they can help with also notifying housing vacancy and create thus more transparency and collaboration between the Municipality and its residents.

It may be difficult to identify what is vacant from the outside, and there can be false reports in Fixi. If it is an uninhabitable home, it may need some different procedures than a structural vacant house. And the report does not indicate that there will be immediate enforcement happening it will also be more of a monitoring and seeing what can be possible.

7.1.4. Geoportal

7.1.4.1. Proposed Actions

7.1.3. Fixi Notification

7.1.3.1. Proposed Actions

The strategy of the tool of the fixi notification is a strategy that also works with the residents of the Municipality of Waalwijk. This is a tool that comes in the form of a website and app where residents can report things that bother them in their living environment. On the website where more is explained about fixi there are examples of what people can report on such as a broken lamppost, loose stones on the pavement, litter, nuisance from people, etc. (Gemeente Waalwijk, 2024). Within this it is thus maybe also possible to report structural housing vacancy in Fixi this has not happened yet and can be mentioned or encouraged to do. This was earlier also discussed in chapter 4.2.1 Enforcement where it was brought up as suggestion that maybe residents can also make a report in Fixi if they are bothered by a structural vacant house. Every notification in fixi first arrives at the LTH department and they will forward it to the right people who may be able to help on the problem.

This strategy mainly focuses on improving the tool of Fixi notification by adding the category of suspected structural housing vacancy, for residents to notify the Municipality. Actions that are included for this tool is that the department of LTH who already handles all the incoming fixi report also continue serving this with the inclusion of the notifications on structural housing vacancy. In the form they can fill in on things that make them suspect the vacancy, such as broken windows closed curtains for months or seeing no person enter or exit the house for an extended period of time. This can be supported by photos. Als there is asked if the person who reports it leaves their email and other information if they want to so the Municipality can keep them updated on the situation for their notification.

The strategy of the tool of geoportal is for the internal use to also understand where the vacancy is and see what neighbourhoods might be the focused on to reduce the structural housing vacancy. The geoportal is of importance to really visualise and track and monitor the housing vacancy. This will be needed together with the use of the excel sheet with the vacancy. This strategy was introduced in chapter 4.2.2 where it was discovered that already a map existed but has not been updated in a while. Also, that it can be unclear what is meant when an apartment is seen as vacant if a whole building is indicated. Within geoportal there has been two map layers this is a layer for housing vacancy and business vacancy. Also was touched upon the geoportal within chapter 5.2 visual mapping where it was already reflected on the data of the housing vacancy with maps indicating how much vacancy there is per district and neighbourhood and in the appendix 12.5 the more detailed location looking at how long it has been vacant and where possible to see the reason of vacancy.

This strategy is mostly to propose to update the Geoportal and have a constant updated system to see if it can become automatic with the excel form that keeps track of the vacancy as well. The geoportal is maintained by the department of realisation management living environment (continued as: RBL). However, for this to work the Data in the excel really needs to be kept UpToDate. This map can even be more visually effective than just showing the locations by building outline of dots on location but also include a colour gradient on what has been vacant longer than a certain amount of time. And a layer on the reason of vacancy to see what kind of intervention may be necessary on site. With these extra layers on top more information can be gathered, to really create an idea on the structural housing vacancy.

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After the report arrives on the app the LTH department can assess the seriousness of the situation and the reality of whether the house is vacant. And then make the steps of looking at the vacancy map on geoportal or the vacancy excel table. Get in contact with any of the departments or teams that may be know what is happening at the location, such as housing, or permits and taxation. And otherwise also try to get in contact with the owner of the house with also the vacancy letter. It is also of importance to be assess if the house is still suitable to live in or being uninhabitable to know if the steps that were just named have to be followed or a different procedure is needed to look at the safety of the surround area.

7.1.4.2. Expected Impact The strategy of the geoportal supports data-based maps that allows the Municipality of Waalwijk to visually monitor the structural housing vacancy. And can improve the understanding what the location is and give more context clues on why it may be structurally vacant.

7.1.4.3. Potential Challenges A potential challenge for this is that the connection between the excel and the map may be not as simple as it can seem. That the layers do not seem to be working per house. Also, a challenge can be that if the excel is too frequently updated that the map cannot keep up with the updates. And where the excel will be stored needs to be central and not change spots over the course so it is also easier for the geoportal to stay updated. Here may also be some privacy issues where it is important that the map is not shown to the residents where they can see all the house to also protect the privacy of the homeowner. 77

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7.1.5. Internal Communication

7.1.5.2. Expected Impact

7.1.6. Excel Sheet

7.1.6.2. Expected Impact

Internal communication strategy name already speaks for itself the internal communication would need some improvement in the terms of the topic structural housing vacancy. This really became apparent with chapter 4.2.3 where it was discovered that the team of VBL already started last year on an excel and sending letters to homeowners that appears to have vacant house for a longer period of time. This is done in regard to the taxation. However, within the Municipality this was not communicated with other departments that this was being done because this is also of interest for the team of housing and the department of LTH.

The expected impact for this strategy is that every department that has a need or an interest in structural vacant housing has a way of communicating what they do with this topic. And there is more clarity between departments. Also of importance is that there is no double work being done for something that already started a system. This way the Municipality also becomes more coherent, and cases are recognised and taken under the loop.

The strategy of the excel sheet, does not only cover the excel sheet but also the process after with the letter of vacancy that is made by the department of VBL. This strategy is of importance with some of the other strategies such as the communication with the homeowner, the geoportal, the internal communication and task distribution. Because within this strategy there will be briefly touched upon the letter of vacancy, and more into the excel form that already exists.

The expected impacts on this excel sheet is, that there becomes more clarity in what is vacant how long has it been vacant and what is the reason of this vacancy. Also to have a basic excel that every department can understand and make a use of. This will be the main tool where the structural vacancy is registered in.

7.1.5.3. Potential Challenges

This strategy has also been identified in chapter 4.2.3. where it was discovered that the team of VBL started more than a year ago looking into the housing vacancy. And so for this the excel document was created. what is included in the excel document can be read in chapter 5.1. where after the current excel document layout is explained there is a new one introduced that could help all the teams. This new one is heavily based on the old one but just with a bit more information.

7.1.5.1. Proposed Actions To improve the internal communication regarding the topic of structural housing vacancy it is important to have the same idea of what is structural housing vacancy. And from that point on any team that is of importance for structural housing vacancy or has an interest in it needs to be kept in the loop of what is being done about it. This can be done with a central point of contact that could be in a Microsoft Teams environment, where at least some people from the department of VBL, BSD and LTH has to be included in also someone from the department of RBL to have the tool of the Geoportal And anyone else that might have an interest in in from their department. Within this it would also be useful to have a regular meeting about this topic this can be a meeting done twice a year to discuss some ongoing cases and see if the way of working may needs to be improved. Also make the excel a shared document that everyone can make some notes if there has been an update on a house.

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The main challenge for this might be the capacity of the people from the departments because for some extra effort may be required. There can also come confusion from other people on how their role connects to the topic and the sharing of information has some sensitivity in regards with privacy so their it also needs to be handled with care. Their needs to be some clear framing for this system to help everyone work more efficiently on this topic.

7.1.6.3. Potential Challenges A challenge for this is that the excel might be overused with too many people in it that it does not register all the information. Aswell the importance of the excel to get the correct information so the letter can be sent to the homeowners. And the data is correct so it can be joined with the geoportal. If the excel fails, there needs to become another system that is almost impossible to keep all the information.

7.1.6.1. Proposed Actions The letter in itself covers all the main questions already it just depends how the homeowner fills it in. And to really make use of the excel as was proposed in chapter 5.1. that there are some columns added and removed to create a bit more clarity. Also, have the excel become a shared document in the Teams environment or somewhere else where everyone can access it. If it is clear from the excel what is structurally vacant than the letters of vacancy are important to be send out.

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7.1.7. Task Distribution

7.1.7.1. Proposed Actions

7.1.8. Uninhabitable Houses

The strategy of task distribution is really more of what is important for the departments of the Municipality to focus on but, also what their capacity is within their department to do something in regards of structural housing vacancy. In chapter 4.2 it was already talked about the different approaches the Municipality currently is taking in regard to the structural housing vacancy. And that there needs to be common ground between the departments to understand why a house may be vacant, keeping the data accurate and communicating who does what.

As it is important to know what tasks there are every possible task that was discussed or still going to be discussed in the strategies will be named, as well tasks that have not been highlighted yet in the strategies but are of importance for looking at the structural housing vacancy and reducing it. The tasks may vary between department this all depends on the capacity and what the department is doing now.

This is an option as strategy not a full strategy, this is because it was discovered through the research that there is a difference between a structurally vacant house and a house that is uninhabitable that is unsuitable to live in and deteriorating. The first part where this can be seen is in chapter 2.2 where there is looked at housing vacancy classification, where mostly the term of what vacancy classification there will be looked at is discussed. However, in most of the sources this option was not mentioned with the exception of Van Der Voordt (2007) where it was said in