The valuation chamber has a instruction published on photo retrieval by municipalities.
WOZ
Each year, the municipality must determine the WOZ value of property located in its territory. Many municipalities have outsourced this to a partnership with other municipalities; a “tax cooperation”.
WOZ is the abbreviation for Property Valuation Act. The value determined under the WOZ is the basis for the real estate tax levied by the municipality. In addition, WOZ value is important in the context of income and corporate tax, as well as inheritance and gift tax, among other things.
Secondary property characteristics
For a proper valuation, the municipality obviously also needs information on the secondary characteristics of the property. These include the quality, state of repair and level of facilities of the property. The owner and/or user of the property is therefore obliged to provide the necessary information. The municipality can obtain this information by means of an information form or an indoor survey (an appraiser visiting the property).
Photos
When, during the corona period, indoor recording was not always possible, municipalities started gathering information by requesting photographs. Requesting photographs of houses poses the risk of violating the privacy of the occupant(s). Therefore, the instruction issued by the Valuation Chamber implies that municipalities requesting photographs should have a Data protection impact assessment (DPIA) have to set up and operate to ensure that only photos without privacy-sensitive information are used.
Good luck!
After all, it will not be easy to take photos that comply with privacy rules. A lot easier seems to be to allow the municipal assessor into your property.
What (at least) should not be in the photos?
- persons;
- photographs of people;
- expressions of faith;
- privacy-sensitive preferences, health or race.
In addition, the instruction gives some examples of features of the property that are and are not allowed in the photographs:
- WELL: stairs, walls, floors, ceilings (moisture spots, cracks, wood rot) but NO: furniture, rugs or paintings;
- WELL: finishing kitchen (cabinets), bathroom parts (bath, floor, shower) but NO: kitchen utensils, food, toiletries or medical supplies;
- WELL: window frames, (central) heating, energy facilities such as insulation but NO: beds, cupboards or lamps.