Minister proposes mandatory real-estate broker register to boost transparency

Housing minister Elanor Boekholt-O'Sullivan announced a plan to create a mandatory professional register for real-estate brokers, to be enforced through a letter to the Tweede Kamer. Under the scheme, any broker who does not register or is removed from the list would be barred from practising. The minister says one outlet system, where anyone can call themselves a broker, lacks effective enforcement of existing codes of conduct.

She points to hundreds of complaints received by the Vereniging Eigen Huis about opaque buying processes, such as buyers not being shown bid logs. The new register would embed statutory behavioural norms covering transparency, accurate information and equal treatment, with disputes handled by an existing complaints commission. Boekholt-O'Sullivan is still deciding whether the rules apply to rental-market activities and aims to keep fees reasonable and prevent price hikes.