Draft legislation which would stop private individuals renting out property which they previously lived in will be published later today by left-wing opposition parties GroenLinks and the PvdA.

The legislation is aimed at stopping investors buying owner-occupied properties and renting them out, and private individuals from keeping and renting their old home if they buy a new one, the AD reported on Monday.

This would make it easier for first time buyers to get a foot on the housing ladder, GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver said. Youngsters often have no choice but to rent a place to live and this would improve the supply of starter owner-occupier homes, Klaver said.

The ban would not apply to housing corporations.

Local authorities currently have the right to impose an owner-occupier requirement, which was brought in to stop new housing projects being snapped up by investors.

But GroenLinks and the PvdA want to reverse the situation so that owners would be banned from renting out all property which was originally bought to live in.

Klaver says that over the past 10 years, 112,000 homes have been bought by investors to rent out and a further 62,000 home owners kept their original property when they moved to a new home.

According to the AD, the plan is unlikely to gather majority support in parliament because the cabinet is already planning to increase regulation in the rental housing sector. The plans include tougher rules on maximum rents and giving local authorities the power to allocate half of all vacant property to their own residents.