We are regular Amsterdam homeowners with erfpacht.

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

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 87-year-old Henk Raaff, reported in Het Parool, made this problem visible.

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 had received letters from the municipality. But during that period, 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 he had to actively complete the transition to avoid a much 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.

For some homeowners, the increase may be tens of thousands of euros per year. For others, it may be a few hundred euros more per month. But even that can have a serious impact on people’s ability to stay in their homes, plan their retirement, support their families, or feel financially secure.

Some of us missed the original transition.
Some of us tried to apply but got stuck.
Some of us did not understand the consequences until it was too late.
Some of us are now facing annual canon amounts that are much higher than expected.

We are not saying every situation is the same.

We are saying the pattern deserves to be seen.

Our goal is simple: help affected homeowners send their personal story to ACM, they gains insight into 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.