We, the new residents of the apartment at Binnenkadijk 478, were approached by Alliantie on Monday 27 March and invited for a talk. By squatting this apartment, we are supporting a pre-existing struggle and protest around Alliantie’s plan to sell 140 social rental homes in the Entrepotdok complex (a unique project designed to jointly house social housing, housing groups and middle-class tenants), and to provide ourselves with housing in a city that has become increasingly unlivable for people with lower incomes.
Given the supposed mission/vision of Alliantie as a housing corporation to provide residents of Amsterdam with affordable housing, we hoped for a friendly conversation aimed at finding a solution that is beneficial for all parties involved. Unfortunately, nothing came of it. The flat had been vacant for seven months for no apparent reason (the previous occupants were evicted for bureaucratic/legal formalities) and no plans for the future were made public or even communicated to the residents. Coincidentally, shortly after the occupation, Alliantie informed the residents of the complex for the first time about various possible future scenarios for the apartment. This is not the first time such a coincidence has occurred. Despite the fact that Alliantie’s plans for the housing are in the early stages and are only ideas at the moment, they plan to evict us as soon as possible and thereby make us homeless. A curious approach for a housing corporation, which contradicts their own core values and, moreover, with usual legal standards that are applied to squatting cases. The right to housing is – at least in theory – only taken away from people if there is a concrete future plan for the housing in question (supported by evidence), which is also about to be implemented. This is clearly not the case for Binnenkadijk 478.
As current residents, we have been cooperative and approachable, and we have made it clear that we do not want to hinder Alliantie in their plans to find a suitable (social) destination for this home – ideally in accordance with the original uses. We have made this clear by pledging to grant access to the property for viewings and by emphasizing that we would like to stay in good contact. Alliantie’s position and their announcement of filing a complain to the police (after initial restraint) during our conversation was therefore extremely disappointing to say the least, especially since the only reason (we were given) was a concern about access to the property. A problem that we tried to solve by showing our cooperation.
Alliantie’s approach to initiating an eviction without being able to submit an urgent and concrete future plan will therefore be the cause of the fact that this apartment will again be vacant for a long time, which is undesirable for the residents of the complex and makes us homeless again as residents of the apartment.
Some squats in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL/squated/squat
Groups (social center, collective, squat) in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL
Events in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/events/country/NL
