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Dutch homeowners’ group VEH says the minister’s proposed estate-agent register addresses only part of its concerns about buying a home.
What has changed? · 02/10/2026, 02:55 UTC
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Housing minister Elanor Boekholt-O'Sullivan is developing a plan to require estate agents in the Netherlands to join a professional register. Agents who failed to register, or were removed from it, would be barred from practising under the proposal, ANP reported in an account carried by Nieuws.nl. The minister outlined the plan in a letter to parliament. [1]
The proposed register would require agents to follow legal standards covering transparency, accurate information and equal treatment. Consumers could bring complaints to an existing disputes committee. Boekholt-O'Sullivan says the industry's voluntary codes have too little power to correct poor conduct and that professional bodies rarely enforce them. Agents are not currently required to join a professional body. [1]
Homeowners' organisation Vereniging Eigen Huis received hundreds of reports of problems with the home-buying process earlier this year, ANP reported. One complaint is that buyers are often not shown the bidding log. [1]
The minister has yet to decide whether the rules should cover rentals and wants to avoid substantially raising agents' costs. More detail is expected in early 2027. PVV parliamentarian Jeremy Mooiman is also working on a bill that includes a register; the minister wants to work with him, but her spokesperson has not ruled out a separate government bill. [1]
Housing Minister Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan says estate agents would have to share relevant property information promptly and in full, treat prospective buyers equally and make bidding visible through a uniform bidding log. These statutory conduct standards would be tied to the mandatory professional register she is developing. [2]
The proposal also includes a disputes committee to handle complaints about estate agents. In the most serious cases, an agent could be removed from the register and would then be unable to work as an estate agent. The government has not specified the conditions for removal. [2]
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The minister plans to develop the registration requirement over the coming months and update the House of Representatives in early 2027. The proposed rules are not yet in force. [2]
Housing minister Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan has proposed a mandatory register intended to make estate agents comply with statutory conduct standards. Responding to the plan in comments reported by ANP on 1 October, a spokesperson for Vereniging Eigen Huis (VEH), a Dutch homeowners’ association, called a registration requirement and quality standards understandable, but only part of the solution. She argued that self-regulation had repeatedly failed. [3]
VEH wants statutory rules covering the entire process of buying a home, with the aim of making it fairer and more transparent. It says the minister’s proposal would set rules only for the estate-agent profession. [3]