Brief History & Role
The Netherlands Council for Real Estate Management was established in 1995. In that year the Netherlands Real Estate Assessment Act regulating the way municipalities assess real estate for taxation purposes came into force. The main reason for establishing the Council for Real Estate Assessment was to supervise and monitor the quality of real estate property assessment. To do so, the council audits the activities of all municipalities in the Netherlands related to the Real Estate Assessment Act (in Dutch: Wet waardering onroerende zaken, Wet WOZ).
Besides the supervisory role regarding the assessment of real estate, the council also monitors the registration of real estate in the government's key register and it advises the Minister of Finance on matters of property tax legislation and appraisal and assessment of real estate. The political responsibility for the council lies with the Minister of Finance.
Principal Activities
In its role as supervisory authority the council mainly performs audits at municipalities. Within these audits the council checks whether or not municipalities comply with the Real Estate Assessment Act. Besides these audits, the council:
- Acts as a consultative body for both public and private organisations that are involved in appraising real estate.
- Acts as an expert centre on real estate assessment to serve both members of the public and other governmental organisations.
- Advises the Minister of Finance about the real estate market and about appraising real estate.
Principal Areas of Policy
Among the councils objectives are to:
- Increase trust in property taxation by improving the quality of public (mass) appraisal
- Promote collaboration between public and private valuers
- Enhance transparency in the real estate market and the appraising business
Organisation
The Netherlands Council for Real Estate Assessment is a Non-departmental Public Body (NDPB). Its secretariat consists of 21 employees who not only enable the assembly of various forums and committees but also carry out the actual audits at municipalities.
Membership
The Netherlands Council for Real Estate Assessment has no members in the strict sense. All municipalities in the Netherlands however are under the council's supervision.