We are regular Amsterdam homeowners with erfpacht.

We are not a political party, law firm, or commercial organization.

This initiative is supported by homeowners who believe the financial consequences of Amsterdam’s erfpacht transition were not clearly enough understood by many residents.

Jaap de Vries acts as spokesperson for this initiative and may be contacted at fairerfpacht@gmail.com for questions from residents, media, and other interested parties.

We came together because many Amsterdam homeowners are now discovering the serious financial consequences of not completing the transition to perpetual erfpacht - often years after they were expected to make one of the biggest financial decisions about their home.

The Story of Henk Raaf

The story of 87-year-old Henk Raaff, reported in Het Parool, made this ongoing problem visible again.

For years, Henk paid an annual canon - the payment for using municipal land - of €315. He later received an offer to transition to perpetual erfpacht for around €6,000 per year. But he did not complete the process in time.

What he says was not made clear is that failing to complete the process could lead to a completely different future calculation - one that increased his proposed annual canon to more than €35,000 per year.

Henk received letters from the municipality - likely in the same standard white City of Amsterdam envelope used for many routine notices.

But at the time, he was a full-time caregiver for his seriously disabled wife, who later passed away. He says the letters were difficult to understand, and that he did not realize that failing to actively complete the transition could lead to a dramatically higher future payment.

That is exactly the problem.

This is not about whether a letter was technically sent. It is about whether homeowners were clearly and effectively warned about the scale of the financial consequences if they did not act.

Henk’s story is extreme, but the underlying issue is not rare.

More than 70,000 Amsterdam erfpachters did not complete the transition to perpetual erfpacht. Many may face much higher future canon amounts than neighbors who did transition earlier.

Our goal is simple: help affected homeowners send their personal story to ACM, so the ACM understands the extent of the problem and can determine the need for a remedial scheme.

We do not provide legal advice.
The letter template below is only provided to help people explain their own experience clearly and honestly.