Four Rotterdam housing corporations have agreed to stop people without jobs or who have a history as problem tenants moving to parts of the city, in an effort to halt further social decline in some areas.

The city council considers parts of the IJsselmonde district in Rotterdam Zuid are under threat by the arrival of so many socially disadvantaged people, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

‘The neighbourhoods where living conditions are under pressure need time to breathe before new residents arrive,’ the housing corporations and city council say in a joint statement, due to be signed later today.

The new rules will apply to 1,200 homes owned by housing corporations Vestia, Woonbron, Woonstad and Havensteder.

However, city councilors from the Socialist Party and left-wing greens GroenLinks have criticised the plan, saying large parts of the city have become no-go areas for vulnerable tenants.

‘Livability, or the lack of it, is becoming equated with unemployment and low income,’ SP councillor Leo de Kleijn told the paper.