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Criminals have purchased thousands of homes in the Netherlands using forged documents, linking the country’s housing shortage to organised crime. An unpublished report estimates that between 6,000 and 11,000 homes have been acquired with falsified mortgage paperwork and subsequently used for criminal activities.
What the report says
These figures are based on a study by the Financial Expertise Centre (Financieel Expertise Centrum, or FEC), a partnership of the police, public prosecution service, tax authority, and other agencies focused on financial crime. The report estimates that criminals financed between 6,000 and 11,000 homes using forged documents and false income information on mortgage applications.
The report has not been made public. According to sources cited by NOS, it has remained at the Ministry of Justice and Security for over six months. The report was expected in March, and the previous government stated it would wait for the FEC’s findings before introducing new anti-fraud measures, making the delay politically sensitive.
How the homes are used
Once acquired, these properties are not used as typical homes. According to the Dutch Banking Association (NVB), they are used for money laundering, illegal subletting, labour exploitation, drug crime, and other forms of “undermining” (ondermijning), the Dutch term for organised crime eroding legitimate society.
“Mortgage fraud is happening on a growing scale,” said NVB chair Medy van der Laan at a parliamentary hearing on undermining crime. “There is exploitation, fraud, and other deeply serious abuses. And it damages the liveability of a neighbourhood.” This practice contrasts sharply with the strict documentation required of ordinary buyers, especially as many honest house-hunters struggle to enter the market.
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The fix the banks want
Banks and notaries have warned about this type of fraud for years and advocate for one key measure: the ability to verify an applicant’s stated income directly with the tax authority (Belastingdienst). Currently, they must largely accept submitted paperwork at face value.
Van der Laan emphasised that this would not require broad sharing of individuals’ financial data. “We respect every sensitivity around privacy,” she said. “On an application, we only want to check that the information we have been given is accurate.” Implementing this measure would require a legal change.
Not a new problem
This is not the first warning. In 2024, the financial daily FD reported that a criminal network purchased hundreds of Amsterdam homes between 2018 and 2023 through fraudulent mortgage applications. These properties were used to house migrant workers, store drug money, and for other illicit purposes. Later that year, additional reports described drug criminals operating mortgage-fraud networks nationwide.
With the FEC report’s main findings now public, parliament is under increasing pressure to release the full document and its recommendations without further delay. This would allow decisions on addressing the fraud, including the proposed income-verification measure, to proceed. In a country where affordable housing is already scarce, diverting thousands of properties for criminal use is likely to intensify the debate.