homelessness

Further to my discussion with the City of Amsterdam

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29 October 2025: I followed it up with a message explaining that I understand that they probably see me as a pain in the behind. Ms Engelhard didn’t reply to that either.

Let’s face it. A) The city permanently shut its doors to me in December 2024 and B) the fact that the city doesn’t even provide something as utterly basic as toilets probably says it all. They are not interested in remedying issues. They are just into cosmetics.

See also this research done at the University of Amsterdam. It’s a chapter in The Routledge Handbook of Global Perspectives on Homelessness, Law & Policy (pp. 175-187). Published in 2024. People went undercover, pretending to be homeless, as part of this research.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003274056-12

https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/180146235/10.4324_9781003274056-12_chapterpdf.pdf

(copy and paste if you don’t trust links)

This is a follow-up to this previous post:
https://angelinasouren.com/2025/10/14/my-ongoing-discussion-with-the-city-of-amsterdam/
See also: https://angelinasouren.com/homelessnessness-in-the-netherlands/

Note that Ms Engelhard did not deny that the City’s behind the intimidation. (This may be why: Homeless people in Amsterdam are no longer fined, as of 13 June 2025. That is in theory. Have the regulations been updated or was this more empty waffling? https://www.dedaklozenvakbond.nl/2025/06/13/geen-boetes-meer/)

Looks like it: https://decorrespondent.nl/16264/buiten-moeten-slapen-dat-is-geen-overtreding-maar-een-onrecht/7774e412-2a4a-0572-05fd-b77458dbf41f There is still a large number of fines that can be imposed on homeless people (and my sense of what was happening around me was that it was geared toward being able to impose at least one on me; I haven’t stated what has been happening and what else I’ve been observing and that’s on purpose).

No, I am – clearly – no longer in negotiating mode or trying to keep anyone at the City of Amsterdam particularly happy. I am being cantankerous, from their point of view. I get that. Personally, I have very little to no faith left in these municipal circuses and the money-making industry that surrounds it. That’s now irrepairable.

I do understand why the municipality sees me as a pain in the behind but I’ve also contacted a different Dutch municipality about its homelessness challenges and took part in a discussion on the topic for London as well.

If I can help push through some improvements, with or without my cousin* pushing from the other side, then I might be quite happy.

(This cousin runs a large real estate undertaking in the mid-market housing segment – and in investing – so he might need to set up an extra company, which in itself is no big deal but entering a very different market segment would be. However, he could still push without doing that and he could also implement changes to existing practices because his existing tenants can easily be impacted too. I’d like to see him use empty office buildings that are too expensive to turn into “proper” apartments, such as the one in Amsterdam Zuid-Oost that I read about – possibly the former ING building? – for capsule housing. You could have two forms: Pods for currently homeless people – because you don’t sleep much at all in a hall with lots of mattresses on the floor and similar places – and larger capsules for young people who can’t afford a bloody fortune in rent but would like to be able to save. The real estate sector has a crappy reputation. My cousin could do break-even projects as a show of corporate responsibility. I know he would have to convince others too. He’s not Donald Trump. I know that. But where there is a will, there is a way. Maybe he can start a consortium with other real estate firms that would like to change the sector.)

The Netherlands is gridlocked in a crazy mess of regulations. That, too, needs to change urgently.
De volkomen bezopen waanzin van de Nederlandse hokjesgeest en verstikkende regelziekte… Lees dit: De regels versimpelen voor AOW’ers die willen samenwonen, scheelt de overheid potentieel honderden miljoenen. En er komen jaarlijks honderden tot duizenden extra woningen vrij.

No, I had not asked Ms Engelhard for help in March, but I was hungry and had called one of those centers where people in my situation are supposed to be able to get a meal, shower and do laundry (at a small fee). Their opening hours are limited and the need is FAR BIGGER than what these centers are still able to offer in terms of capacity. So far, Mayor Femke Halsema has been adamant that she won’t offer more support.

When I called this center, I was told that it was only available for people who were already registered there.

At the end of the call, I asked Ms Engelhard where I might be able to get a meal and I told her about this. Somehow, Ms Engelhard knew which center (inloophuis) I was talking about. I don’t know how she knew.

She informed me that I would be able to get a meal at a location that turned out to be west of Sloterplas, at about 7 kilometers (from where I was at the time, I think, which was east of Central Station). She mentioned a specific time.

I told her that I would not be able to make it.

I googled it later and it was a center for men, it said online, but I’ve found that the online information as to where and when you can find resources is often non-existent or contradictory.

Anyway, this wasn’t doable for me. I was dragging two suitcases and a heavy underseat cabin bag along with me. I already was exhausted.

One thing that the city definitely has to do if it continues on its course of sending people to the fringes of town all the time is give them (storage facilities, anyway, and) a public transport pass. If the City gives you a registered address, for example, then you’re obliged to go to the far Nieuw West once a week at a specific time, off the top of my head. Otherwise you will lose the address.

There are conditions tied to the benefits too that I can no longer meet. Ms Engelhard said that it would not take me that long to find new living quarters, but I reckon it would take 15 to 20 years.

Below are the two texts I had sent to the mayor. I think that these are the exact same versions, but there might be minor differences.

I was still in the middle of learning how to do homelessness. Sleep deprivation is such a huge factor initially that you quickly realize that it is vital to get enough sleep. (That is not an issue at all for me any longer.) After that, you discover that rain is actually the biggest problem. The worries about people freezing to death mostly concern the image of city councils etc. You can learn how to deal with cold, but rain makes you miserable, wet and muddy and powerless. There is very little you can do about it. Toilets are an issue too. There are almost no public toilets in Amsterdam. Most are for men only and even the ones for men are only for, eh, number 1?

I just also emailed the town of Beverwijk about its homelessness problem, btw. I sent them this link: https://www.lekkertehuur.nl/

Sleep deprivation, hunger and utter physical exhaustion – along with anger about getting treated like trash or like terrorists – are behind the symptoms that get homeless people vilified.

Amsterdam and homelessnessDownload
wonen in MokumDownload

Anyway, with regard to what happened in December 2024: I tend to think of what happened as the result of me having emigrated to England in 2004, but I was in fact informed that the issue was that I hadn’t been staying in a tent or car but on someone’s couch.

Unfortunately, there’s nobody who can sign off as to whether or not you’ve been on the street (and there’s probably no form for it either). It was my understanding that I had to be on someone’s couch, perhaps so that someone could sign off. They said that there was an arrangement with the Amsterdam suburb that I was in at the time. Amsterdam runs over into it; there is no unbuilt environment in between.

I have a feeling that if I’d stayed in a tent, I’d have been told yet some other reason as to why I didn’t qualify.

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Homelessness in Amsterdam

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Amsterdam’s approach to homelessness

I think that Amsterdam’s approach of homelessness does not work. One reason is that cause and effect of factors that feature in homelessness get confused. By that, I mean that I believe that what is often seen as a cause is actually a result, for example a result of the failing approach. Another reason is that the efforts are largely cosmetic in my view and don’t necessarily do much to alleviate the suffering of homeless people, let alone remedy and prevent homelessness.

I suspect that there often is a subconscious assumption that there are so many things “wrong” with homeless people that their homelessness is basically a given. I feel that homelessness is often being supported, rather than homeless people. People end up exhausted and devalued, and are left without hope.

Particularly also the current measures being taken at Amsterdam’s Central Station are very concerning, in my view. They also impact travellers and NS staff negatively.

The huge impact of sleep deprivation – a fixed component of homelessness – appears to get completely overlooked. First, people will start functioning at the level of being drunk, but sleep deprivation also often causes sour moods (depression), hallucinations and psychosis. These are the result of homelessness, not the cause. Therein lies the key to dealing with homelessness, I believe.

Amsterdam’s mayor

I just read that Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema has very recently said she wants to reexamine Amsterdam’s homelessness policy:
https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/waarom-krijgen-buiten-slapende-daklozen-nog-steeds-boetes-halsema-wil-beleid-tegen-licht-houden-daklozen-beschermen-en-overlast-tegengaan~b6af637f/

However, she appears to have said more or less the same in 2021:
https://www.at5.nl/nieuws/206600/halsema-vindt-beboeten-van-slapende-daklozen-beschamend

I conclude that little or nothing has changed and I wonder how committed Halsema really is. Her comments reflect conservative right-wing politics, not at traditional views from the left. She’s still with GroenLinks, however. 

Time for positive change

I have several ideas for how we could accomplish a turnaround in this area. Some of these also convey the human right to housing; as I am sure you know, the United Nations believe that the Netherlands is not doing too well in this area.

  • I propose capsule housing as a way to help prevent homelessness and remedy existing homelessness by bringing people’s expenses down. This might be done by using empty office buildings (https://openresearch.amsterdam/image/2024/10/28/monitor_kantoren_1_januari_2024.pdf). The conversion of empty office buildings into traditional housing is expensive and often stalls for that reason. By contrast, converting existing buildings for capsule housing might not only cost a lot less, the capsules should and would be removable, conferring a great deal of flexibility. 
  • The official day and night shelters are pitiful and limited and largely cosmetic. Access is very limited, in every conceivable way. It also forces people who are already exhausted to traipse all over Amsterdam.
  • There should be small-scale facilities all over town where people can keep a few belongings. This could be with host families (for example their bicycle storage “box”) or with public libraries, but other solutions are possible. I myself have been homeless for nearly five months, mostly in Amsterdam, and I get so exhausted dragging all my stuff with me wherever I go, even if it is just for a snack from the supermarket. It would be so lovely if I could just leave my suitcases somewhere for an afternoon and know that they will still be there when I get back. 
  • There need to be far more stable (!) and easily accessible (!) sleeping places all over town. This would need to be managed well, in terms of cleaning and maintenance; letting specific homeless people look after these solutions might work really well. Toronto has a project with transportable tiny homes (https://tinytinyhomes.ca/contact-us/ and https://www.gofundme.com/f/tiny-tiny-homes-affordable-housing-solutions). Personally, I do not see them as a breakthrough, but the project does raise awareness for the issue and gets people involved. Portsmouth and London in the UK have converted buses into flexible shelters and that could be a good solution for Amsterdam. I would also like to see capsules installed at or near Central Station to ensure that people get enough sleep (to tackle problematic behaviours) and stay warm. Homeless people could be issued with an electronic pass for free access to 75% of these capsules; the remaining 25% could be accessed at a fee of EUR 10, 12.50 or 15. This way, you avoid competition with hostels, and on the other hand, when the 75% are occupied people who are desperate for a good night’s sleep won’t mind paying a small fee and won’t feel the lack of capacity as acutely. Of course, the main problem behind homelessness is lack of cash, but if you take a look on for example Reddit, you will see that financially more fortunate Amsterdammers can be quite willing to pay 30 euros or more just so that some stranger does not have to sleep in the streets. What I like about the idea of a project at Central Station is the educational factor. The stigma needs to be addressed and the extreme hardship needs to be explained along with how this affects homeless people why they are not always at their best behaviour and why this calls for compassion rather then rejection and condemnation. 
  • The approach taken at Jan van Galenstraat 323b is dehumanizing and should be thoroughly overhauled. People should not be treated as if they are potentially dangerous terrorists; that’s downright offensive. (I refer you to what I wrote above.) Also, promises should always be laid down in writing to avoid that despicable games get played with homeless people; this erodes trust in democracy and can make people very angry. Also, you get a better response from people if you treat them with normal human respect and dignity than when you treat them like potentially dangerous trash. 

With regard to myself, I am not entitled to any form of support (and I have lost all faith in civil servants when it comes to really depending on their support anyway). My aim is to get myself back on my feet asap, and I set up a GoFundMe to that end at the start of this year. I expected to have accomplished my goal much sooner (before the end of November, even) and I am getting pretty exhausted. I am a Dutch citizen, but I am formally based in the UK.  

I have seen and learned a lot in England. Speaking of which, London is also currently starting a major effort to address homelessness (https://www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/topics/housing/rough-sleeping-london/discussions). 

I no longer really know anyone in the Netherlands.

Anything you can do to truly help me would be greatly appreciated, however. (Atypical for me, I quite often find myself close to tears these days.) My main problem is my lack of income, other than donations. I have no savings. My story is not a typical one, but the end result and what needs to be done to remedy the situation is more or less the same as for any other homeless person. It is a matter of cash. Any healing that needs to be done all depends on having financial stability.

I recognize homeless people now – along with a few fake ones – and I see their pain and utter exhaustion, hopelessness and misery. It’s often young males, often wire-thin, but also older males. They all desperately try not to get noticed. It’s HEART-BREAKING, particularly to see the young ones. They are supposed to be our future and if we don’t support them now, we are merely creating tomorrow’s much bigger problems.