Residential specialist Heimstaden has acquired 149 homes from the Mooiland housing corporation in the Netherlands.
The deal concerns 68 single-family homes and 81 apartments that are part of fully-owned complexes, which Heimstaden will manage and rent out. The houses are located in Emmeloord (101) in Eefde (43) and in Wichmond (5).
The Mooiland housing corporation is mainly active in and around the Northeast Brabant region. Outside of that, Mooiland owns small numbers of homes spread over many different municipalities, which it intends to gradually exit. The houses are always primarily offered to housing associations, before they reach the private market.
In 2019 and 2020, Mooiland sold the majority of the homes in Flevoland, Overijssel and the Achterhoek to other corporations. For the homes in these three municipalities, there was little or no interest in takeover among housing associations.
Mooiland subsequently offered these homes to the public. In this phase, commercial parties were also able to make an offer on the homes. In the end, Mooiland opted for sale to Heimstaden in this process, which was approved by the Housing Corporations Authority.
Heimstaden, which first set foot in the Netherlands in 2018, has since expanded its offer to approximately 13,500 homes. The company wants to expand that number to at least 20,000 in the coming years, and last year opened several regional offices in the Netherlands to directly serve customers.
As part of its strategy, the firm is aiming for an energy label of C or better by 2030 across all its units at the latest. Of the Mooiland deal, 46 homes have energy label A, 6 label B, 66 label C, 30 label D and 1 label E.
All 149 homes are social housing. Heimstaden takes over the existing leases and takes over the rights and obligations laid down therein. Rents will also remain the same for all current tenants. The residents involved have now been informed about the sale by letter.
With the annual rent indexation, Heimstaden is bound by the same national rules for maximum rent increases as housing associations. Residents with a right to housing benefit also retain this right. Furthermore, restrictions apply with regard to the maximum rent in the event of a change of residents until seven years after the takeover.
'By purchasing these homes, we are strengthening our range of affordable rental homes in Flevoland and Gelderland,' said Simon Kuijs, investment manager at Heimstaden Netherlands. 'That fits in with our vision to be a friendly, sustainable and socially committed home lessor for everyone. We look forward to meeting our new residents and welcoming them to Heimstaden.'
