Municipalities must allow people to live in holiday parks for ten years. This is stated in plans published by Housing Minister Mona Keijzer for reactions. Currently, municipalities can still decide for themselves whether to allow permanent residence.
In the Netherlands, almost 60,000 people are registered at the address of a recreational home, Keijzer writes in an explanation. They have difficulty going elsewhere due to the housing shortage. The possibility that they have to leave can cause stress, according to the minister.
The idea of tolerating living in holiday parks was already included in the outline agreement presented last year by cabinet parties PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB.
Keijzer’s scheme is intended to give “legal certainty” to people who were already living in a holiday park last spring. Anyone who wants to legally reside in a holiday home for a long period in the coming years must therefore be able to demonstrate that they also lived there before or on May 16, 2024.
The rule is not intended for people who started living in a holiday park after this date. According to Keijzer, this would cause an “explosively increasing demand for recreational homes.”
The ten-year period starts from the moment the instruction comes into effect. The intention is for this to happen sometime in 2026. Eight years later, the cabinet must review whether the rule is still necessary. If not, municipalities may decide again themselves about living in holiday parks two years later. Hotels, motels and pensions are not covered by this scheme.