The Roemer recommendations on housing: what has happened since?

01What was the task force for the protection of labour migrants?

The Dutch government set up the Aanjaagteam Bescherming Arbeidsmigranten on 1 May 2020, chaired by Emile Roemer. Its task was to propose measures against abuses in the work and housing of labour migrants.

The task force issued two pieces of advice:

• First advice (11 June 2020). Aimed at the short term, because of the risk of coronavirus infection in crowded houses and minibuses. The government responded on 3 July 2020.
• Second advice (30 October 2020): 'Geen tweederangsburgers. Recommendations to tackle abuses affecting labour migrants in the Netherlands'. This is usually what people mean by 'the Roemer report'. It contains 50 recommendations, grouped by theme, such as recruitment, visibility of labour migrants, housing, enforcement and information.

The government's response to the second advice is dated 14 December 2020. For each recommendation it states whether and how the government takes it up.

eyesonrooms does not rent out housing and does not act as a letting agent. This article summarises government documents and is not legal advice. Laws and proposals change: check the current text and consult a lawyer about your own situation.

02What did the task force recommend on housing?

Thirteen of the fifty recommendations are in the housing chapter. They fall into four groups:

The core issue is dependence. When one party arranges the job, the home and often the transport, a labour migrant who loses the job loses income and roof at the same time. The task force wanted to break that link and secure housing quality.

Two recommendations from other chapters also affect housing directly: recording contact details and residence addresses in the population register (see below), and the deduction of housing costs from wages.

03Is the rental contract now separate from the employment contract?

Yes. This is the clearest recommendation that became law. The government took up recommendation 4.4.B, and it was worked out in the Good Landlordship Act (Wet goed verhuurderschap), which came into force on 1 July 2023.

Article 2(3) of that act states that when renting housing to labour migrants:

• the rental agreement is laid down separately from the employment contract;
• information on rights and obligations is given in a language the labour migrant prefers, or in another language he or she understands.

According to the VNG, the association of Dutch municipalities, the aim is that losing a job does not automatically mean losing the home straight away. The VNG explicitly describes the act as working out several recommendations from 'Geen tweederangsburgers'.

Note the difference between 'on paper' and 'in practice'. A separate contract is mandatory, but the act does not say how long someone may stay after the job ends. In the temporary-work sector, employers and unions made their own agreements: according to a government letter of December 2021, workers may stay in the housing for up to four weeks after their contract ends. Check which collective agreement applies to your organisation.

04What can a municipality require when you rent to labour migrants?

Recommendation 4.1.B asked for a landlord permit that also works for group housing. That is now part of the Good Landlordship Act too:

• Permit requirement. The municipal council can decide in a bylaw that a designated category of 'verblijfsruimte' (buildings used to house labour migrants) may only be rented out with a permit from the municipal executive (article 5). According to the VNG, this can apply to the whole municipality or to specific areas.
• Conditions. The municipality can attach conditions to such a permit about a separately lockable room for each labour migrant who does not form a household with another labour migrant, and about shared facilities for food, washing and showering, in line with the maximum number of residents (article 8). A maintenance plan can also be required.
• Transition. For existing buildings, the lockable-room condition had a transition period of three years after the act came into force.

The VNG advises municipalities to use the SNF and AKF standards for kitchens, bathrooms and laundry. There is no national permit requirement: it depends on your municipality. For an example of local rules, see our article on Venlo.

On floor area (4.3.C) the government took a different route from the task force. The task force wanted an adjusted standard in the national Building Decree. The government wrote that floor area is 'an important point in the advice', but preferred a decentralised solution: municipalities can set their own minimum floor area per person in their environmental plan (omgevingsplan).

05What about quality marks, certification and wage deductions?

One quality mark (4.3.A). In 2020 the government supported the wish to move to a single quality mark and started talks with the schemes. Rules and guidance, for example from the VNG, still name SNF and AKF side by side. You can read what the SNF standard requires in the SNF standard explained.

Admission system for agencies. The task force pushed for mandatory certification of temporary-work agencies. This became the Act on the admission of the supply of workers (Wet toelating terbeschikkingstelling van arbeidskrachten, Wtta). The Senate approved it on 11 November 2025. According to the Dutch government, the act takes effect on 1 January 2027, and the admission requirement will be enforced from 2028. On 8 October 2026 a public consultation started on an amendment that adds equal or equivalent pay to the requirements (expected from 1 July 2027). The government's announcements on the Wtta do not mention separate housing requirements.

Deductions from the minimum wage. At present an employer may deduct up to 25% of the gross statutory minimum wage for housing, and only if the home is certified. On 10 September 2026 the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment announced that he wants to abolish this option from 1 July 2028. The government's reason: to stop rogue employers using housing and deductions as a business model. In October 2026 this is a plan, not law.

06Does the government now know better where labour migrants live?

The task force found that municipalities and the Labour Inspectorate often do not know where labour migrants stay. People in the Netherlands for less than four months are not registered as residents in the population register (BRP), but can register in the Register of Non-Residents (RNI).

What has happened since 2020:

• The government accepted the recommendation to record contact details of labour migrants (3.1.B) and announced legislation. In the short term this was done through the RNI application. According to a government letter of December 2021, contact details of non-residents had been recorded on a voluntary basis since early 2021.
• In June 2021 a group of members of the House of Representatives tabled an amendment to the BRP Act amendment bill (parliamentary paper 35 648) to record a temporary residence address and contact details of non-residents. The amendment refers to the Roemer report.
• According to the VNG, the RNI now records temporary residence addresses and contact details, among other things, and municipalities get structural, periodic access to the temporary addresses from June 2026.

For employers and landlords this mainly means: make sure residents know how and where to register, and keep your own up-to-date list of residents per address. Many municipalities also require a night register or resident register in their local rules.

07What is law as of October 2026, and what is still a proposal?

The bill on suitable rental contracts (Wet passende huurcontracten), open for consultation from 2 July to 28 August 2026, would also allow labour migrants to sign a temporary rental contract of up to two years, with rent protection. According to the government, one condition is that every resident has a private bedroom of at least 5.5 m². Short stay would be limited to 30 days, without rent protection. The government names 1 July 2028 as the intended start date. Whether and how the bill becomes law is up to parliament.

08What does this mean for employers, agencies and landlords?

An employer or agency that rents housing to its own staff is also a landlord under the Good Landlordship Act. A practical checklist:

The common thread since 2020: being able to show good landlordship. If you can show per home who lives there, what has been agreed and what state the home is in, you are in a stronger position at a municipal check or a quality-mark inspection. The eyesonrooms housing-management software keeps contracts, inspections with photos and reports per home in one place; see also housing management software and the challenges of housing labour migrants.

09Frequently asked questions

10Sources

• Letter from the Minister of Social Affairs: second advice of the task force for the protection of labour migrants (30 October 2020, Dutch)
• Government response to the second advice, with an annex per recommendation (14 December 2020, Dutch)
• Parliamentary paper 29 861, no. 77: letter on labour migration and annual report (17 December 2021, Dutch)
• Good Landlordship Act, current text, articles 2, 5 and 8 (wetten.overheid.nl, consulted October 2026, Dutch)
• VNG: How does the Good Landlordship Act protect labour migrants? (Dutch)
• Dutch government: Senate approves stricter rules for the labour-supply market (11 November 2025, Dutch)
• Dutch government: consultation on changed requirements for supplying workers (8 October 2026, Dutch)
• Dutch government: employer may no longer deduct rent from a labour migrant's minimum wage (10 September 2026, Dutch)
• Dutch government: consultation starts on the suitable rental contracts bill (2 July 2026, Dutch)
• Parliamentary paper 35 648, no. 12: amendment on temporary residence address and contact details in the BRP (June 2021, Dutch)
• VNG: Registration of non-residents (RNI) flyer (2026, Dutch)

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