
More than 60,000 Dutch people live in holiday homes, sometimes beautifully hidden in nature. Some are forced to do so, because the housing shortage leaves them nowhere else to go. Living like this is prohibited, so residents face inspections. Inspectors peer through windows and issue fines, while residents hide behind their sofas and become even more stressed. This has to stop, says the national government. Minister Mona Keijzer wants to grant residents ten years' permission to stay. But municipalities are resisting, and that's putting residents in a difficult position. Who should they listen to? And why are municipalities so fiercely opposed?