D66 amsterdam internationals

Election manifesto D66 Amsterdam

D66 Amsterdam has summarised its views in a manifesto that is both ambitious and realistic, in order to face the great challenges that Amsterdam has to meet regarding housing, climate and equal opportunities. Leading candidate Reinier van Dantzig: ‘We must lead ambitiously and energetically in dealing with the housing shortage by building a lot, by regulating the market, and by being innovative and creative. We must not evade difficult issues and attack the climate crisis head-on. And of course, we have to deal with the deepening crisis of equal opportunities, which calls for innovation and reinforcement of Amsterdam’s education system. This will all be possible with this manifesto.

Housing: ambitious and decisive

The right to a house is under pressure due to the housing crisis, and this is unacceptable. D66 believes that everyone in Amsterdam should have the chance of having a house. Not only the rich or the poor, but also the people with median incomes – this is an absolute top priority. We are going to build like never before, but we must also intervene in the market to keep houses affordable.

  • D66 wants to build at least 9000 houses a year, and we will make sure that 50% of the newly built houses are affordable and available to people with a median income.
  • We are going to make better use of the city and build new city districts on the water. We will also create high-rise buildings around large public transport hubs. To increase the building production considerably we, as municipality of Amsterdam, will work in equal partnership with housing corporations and market actors, including pension funds, and we will make performance agreements about ambitious building targets, affordability and sustainability.
  • A fixed low land price will be set for housing in the middle segment in exchange for long-term regulated rent prices in the middle segment.

Mobility, regulation and transformation

  • We will make sure that more houses become available by creating incentives for people to move to more suitable accommodations. We want to stimulate this by higher relocation grants, professional housing coaches, a public campaign and cooperation within the Amsterdam region as a whole.
  • Houses are there to be lived in. We will provide protection against buyouts of cheap and medium-priced houses in the entire city by a self-occupancy obligation. Whenever possible, we will provide an anti-speculation clause when a house is sold.
  • We will ensure that people can live in existing buildings by transforming offices or shops into houses, by building lighter wooden constructions on top of buildings, by expanding possibilities of living above shops, and by temporarily allocating locations that do not have a residential purpose (yet) for housing.

More affordable rental and owner-occupied housing for families and first-time buyers.

  • D66 wants to build 1,000 medium-priced owner-occupied houses (up to the national mortgage guarantee – NHG) and 500 large medium-priced rental houses of at least 75 m2 for families.
  • Make it easier for first-time buyers and current tenants to buy a house from corporations, and give priority to tenants of medium-priced houses if they leave behind a social rental house.
  • We will considerably expand priority procedures for social professions, especially for teachers, in order to deal with the shortage of teachers.

Climate: do or die

We are in the biggest crisis ever. A crisis that is so all-encompassing that it is at the basis of all other problems and worries in the city. This is the decisive decade. Now we still have time to intervene. We can still prevent the climate crisis. It is do or die. D66 has the ambition to increase the target for carbon reductions from 55% to 60% in 2030. In this, we stand for climate justice.

  • Insulation reduces our energy consumption and allows for substantial savings. A metropolitan circular insulation scheme will be planned.
  • We will work together with educational institutes to allow and stimulate young people to move to a technical profession that contributes to the sustainability of our city. 
  • We will double the discount that can be given on the fees for an environmental licence in case of sustainable renovation: from € 25.000 per project to € 50.000 per project.

No roof left empty

  • D66 wants to create a Green Roofs fund! The city must set up a Green Roofs fund in which residents of Amsterdam can buy shares. They will annually receive a return on this, so it will be an attractive investment for residents of Amsterdam.
  • The one hundred biggest roofs of Amsterdam could provide for 15% of the total potential of solar energy in Amsterdam. With each of these one hundred companies and institutions an action plan will be made for solar panels on their roofs.
  • We are committed to ‘no roof left empty’: roofs are used, unless it can be motivated why this must be departed from in a particular situation.

Climate-proof & public support

  • We’re working hard on a greener city with more space for water. This climate adaptation makes the city more pleasant and provides coolness in summer.
  • Public support for climate plans and energy transition is crucial. We involve residents in far-reaching decisions in their living environment and we will make sure that information is understandable, accessible and available.
  • In the approach to reducing the use of natural gas, the city has been divided into districts.  For every area in these districts, there will be a citizens’ assembly that monitors and makes independent propositions in the fields of communication, technology, rules of play, governance and research.

Education: give all children and students the opportunities they deserve

Education remains as important as ever for D66. For both young and adult residents of Amsterdam who want to develop themselves: all residents of Amsterdam deserve to be seen for who they are and for their talents, and get the opportunity to blossom.

Rich School Day

  • D66 wants schools at which you not only learn to become something, but to become someone as well. So, there must be more attention to broader talent development.
  • D66 wants a rich school day for all children with education, out-of-school care, sports, culture, citizenship and healthy school lunches.
  • We emphasise the importance of  a broad introductory year at the start of secondary education. We will also expand the supply of intermediate classes. Thus, pupils can follow a year of additional education between primary and secondary education to catch up, especially in language.
  • We stand for a safe study climate. We fight discrimination in education and we are committed to a better representation of all kinds of people both in teaching staff and teaching material. We will expand the socio-psychological help to all young people and students of Amsterdam. 

Talent development

  • It is the socio-economic status of your parents that determines your opportunities in life. D66 wants to counteract this. Therefore, we have to invest unequally for equal opportunities, investing more in schools with  student populations with more severe learning disadvantages, such as in the districts Zuidoost, Nieuw-West and Noord.
  • We will continue pre-school education for broader target groups and provide clear, pro-active information in the entire city, to increase the number of participants.
  • Amsterdam leads with its secondary vocational education agenda. D66 is proud of this. We will intensify the collaboration between secondary vocational education institutes and businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to set up job tasters, internships, visits and buddy systems. So that everyone will get the opportunity to expand his / her living environment and network.
  • We will make internship agreements with bigger employers in the city. We will promote and value secondary vocational education and get rid of the terms higher and lower education. 

Teachers are of utmost priority

  • We need the best teachers at the most challenging places. It will be made more attractive for teachers to work at schools with more challenges in learning and teaching, by means of  better training and higher salaries, among other things.
  • The priority policy for teachers on the housing market will be expanded and we will provide other facilities, including full travel allowances and sufficient parking spaces.
  • The programmes for starting teachers and for late or delayed starters in teaching will be expanded, e.g. with a two-year ‘teacher traineeship’. The initiative of D66 for a city-wide mentoring programme for starting teachers will be expanded further.
  • A career as an Amsterdam teacher will be made more attractive by freeing up resources for specialisations and for exchanges between schools in various parts of the country.

Look here for the complete election manifesto, including chapters on mobility, art and culture, economics, finance, safety, freedom, equality of opportunities and social safety, young people, care and well-being, and sports. 

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