Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra is commissioning an investigation into the private lease market to find out whether consumers run into problems by leasing a car. That’s in one letter which he sent to the Lower House on Tuesday.
The minister is particularly curious about the risks for consumers in the fast-growing market. He also has investigated whether debt problems arise due to private lease and whether providers of private lease cars take the financial situation of the consumer into account. The investigation is expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year.
The private lease market is growing fast in the Netherlands. In 2019, the number of private lease cars increased by almost 26 percent to 188,000. In total there are about 9.5 million cars in the Netherlands. Those who opt for a private lease car often enter into a multi-year contract and pay a fixed amount for a car every month. This also includes the costs for the maintenance of the vehicle.
Earlier this year, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) pointed out that private lease strongly resembles a commodity credit, a form of consumer credit. Nevertheless, the private lease market is not supervised, but that of consumer credit is. The AFM therefore argued for a closer look at the legal regulation of private leasing.
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