this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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Here in the Netherlands, the government agency for housing has the figures on how many second homes people own, but refuses to publish it.
Journalists have estimated that the number is about equal to the number of people looking for a house. About 400K on a population of 18M.
The scarcity is artificial.
I don't think owning a second home per se is wrong or evil. Many people can't afford buying a house due to the upfront costs. But owning a second home and leaving it empty for years? Owning multiple homes to use as Airbnbs in residential areas? I really wish this was regulated. But it will never be because there's big bucks being made there.
I'm even ok with them owning a second house - but I think simple, easily understood answers are what's called for in this day and age (nuance is so easily corrupted) so here's my pitch
You have a second house? If it's empty for 6 months, your taxes start going up. By a year it should be more then the house value rises, and it should just keep going up
Same with apartments and any property opening companies. Honestly, I'd be fine saying it all starts when your household owns at least three homes
You can surrender the house to the government to be rented at cost, maybe for a tax write-off for the first 10 years or something, otherwise it should just keep rising to insane levels.
I want people begging for renters. Developers should slash their prices to move units quickly - it'll incentivize more affordable housing. Hell, I want landlords so desperate they pay people to inhabit them for a fixed time period.
And that's why I like 3 - you had to move and your house isn't selling? I don't want to screw over individuals, there's easier people to. You have a vacation house? Fine, but if you move you better get your empty house sold.
It'll cause all kinds of problems, but we have empty homes and homeless people - that's just uncivilized
This is somewhat tangential, but what are your thoughts on Georgism -- a land value tax?
I like it in theory, but I have a couple issuesn.
I feel like it's too complicated to make average people understand how it works, the idea is simple on the surface, but I think you'd have an endless parade of people asking "so if I have resources on my land, then what happens exactly?"
And in practice I feel like it would be a difficult transition from where we are. There's a lot of opportunity to sabotage it if they can muddy the waters, and I feel like lobbyists would end up carving it up in a way that puts corporate profits first... It depends on assessing value of many things, and if you compromise that portion of the process it all falls apart. They might even sneak in easier eminent domain or something
Systems like this can't be put in place through compromise, they have to be pure or it all falls apart. Maybe someday, I just don't know how to get from here to there without a lot of middle stages
Those are good points. Thank you for taking the time to respond.