Guarantee Fund construction

The aim of this part of the website is to clarify the way in which the guarantee fund system of the Home Ownership Guarantee Fund (Waarborgfonds Eigen Woningen, or WEW) is set up. 

The objects of the WEW according to the articles 
The objects of the WEW, as laid down in Article 3(1) of the articles of the WEW, read as follows with effect from 31 December 2014: 

• to promote the acquisition by natural persons of homes located in the Netherlands; 
•  to promote improvements in the quality of homes located in the Netherlands which are owned and lived in by natural persons; 
•  to promote the preservation of homes located in the Netherlands which are owned and lived in by natural persons.

The resources of the WEW under its articles: the guarantee
The second paragraph of the above-mentioned article states that the resources available to achieve this purpose are contracts of suretyship, which provide a guarantee that payment obligations arising from loans taken out by borrowers to acquire ownership or improve the quality of homes will be met. The contract of suretyship can be found in this part of the site under ‘Relatie WEW – geldgever’, which sets out the relationship between the WEW and the lender. 

By providing a contract of suretyship to the lender, the WEW provides security in the event that the borrower fails to meet his financial obligations. In the case of a forced sale of the borrower’s home, the proceeds of the sale may not be enough to cover the amount still owed on the mortgage. If that is the case and the lender has complied with the general conditions of suretyship laid down by the WEW as they applied at the moment of offering that loan, the lender may apply to the WEW to settle the remaining debt. 

The foundation of the suretyship
The articles of the WEW, as they applied from 1 January 2011, contain the following principles for fulfilling the suretyship function: 

1.   Provision of suretyship 
   2.    Investment policy 
   3.    Backstop function 

An explanation of these principles can be found in the following parts of this website (in Dutch):

The provision of suretyship: under Risicobeheer (pdf)
The backstop function: under Relatie WEW - Rijk and Relatie WEW - gemeente.