Our views on housing

Many people cannot find an affordable home. When we rent, we often pay too much. Due to the lack of affordable housing, landlords can get away with charging high rents, neglecting maintenance, and other ways to make more money from us! Are you also struggling with expensive rents? Dissatisfied by the lack of maintenance? Or are there other issues? Complaints like these are common, and you are not alone. Do you have complaints? Speak out and take action. Together with your neighbors and ROOD, Socialist Youth, you can get what you are owed. Join the fight! Report the issues in your home by emailing groningen@roodjongeren.nl, and together with you and your neighbors, we will win what you deserve! We are ROOD Groningen, socialist youth.

Successes have already been achieved with campaigns such as wijweigerendehuurverhoging.nl and actions such as shelter our students. Want to know more about the housing crisis and how we want to change it?

The housing crisis is not a new problem but a permanent issue in our current system. Within capitalism, the right to profit from homes is prioritized over the right to housing. Landlords and property owners benefit more and more from the housing shortage, leading to rising house prices and rents. Meanwhile, the number of homeless people in the Netherlands has skyrocketed and one in five children in Groningen grows up in poverty. This system must change! We demand:

• Change houses from objects for profit for capitalists into homes for people. Houses are meant for living, not for lining the pockets of investors. Private real estate should be expropriated and converted into social housing for people who need housing.

• Invest in better social housing. Rent should only have to cover maintenance costs and a collective contribution for new construction. Affordable houses need to be built by and for society to meet the demand and solve the housing problem.

• Democratize public housing. Currently, decisions about housing are largely made by landlords and real estate companies. Decent housing for everyone is not a priority for them; their only goal is to make more profit. Decisions about housing should be made by the (future) residents themselves.

We call on everyone to join us and fight for the right to housing. We cannot change society individually; we must organize and work together. Together, we can achieve this. Join ROOD!