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, WED., OCT. 7, 2026No. 3 · 6:00 p.m. CEST6 p.m. CEST
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Housing · EnergySource ✓ Rijksoverheid · Press ✓ 4 outlets

Cabinet wants a hybrid heat pump as the standard after all. From 2029, with a new boiler

Anyone replacing their boiler would then have to choose a smart hybrid heat pump. A working boiler may stay on the wall. The plan fell through on cost before, and that question is back.

The cabinet wants homeowners to switch to a smart hybrid heat pump from 2029 when they replace their central heating boiler. The national government (Rijksoverheid) announced this on Wednesday; the Volkskrant, Trouw, De Telegraaf and the NOS reported it. It concerns a regulatory standard: an ordinary gas boiler would then no longer meet the requirements. The rule applies to homes that are not, or will not be, connected to a heat network. A boiler that still works does not have to go. Nothing has been settled yet. The cabinet wants a bill ready in the spring of 2027, which will then go to consultation, and calls 2029 the earliest possible start. The House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) and the Senate (Eerste Kamer) must still agree. A hybrid heat pump works together with the existing or a new boiler: the pump draws heat from the outside air and the boiler kicks in on cold days. That cuts gas use considerably, without the house having to be fully insulated or renovated.

The idea is not new. The Rutte IV cabinet already wanted to introduce the obligation from 2026. Under the Schoof cabinet the plan was scrapped, after the PVV, NSC, VVD and BBB found the costs for households too high. Those costs are the sticking point now too. A hybrid heat pump including installation easily costs €8,000, against some €2,000 for a new boiler, the NOS calculated. Milieu Centraal comes out lower for an average corner house, and with the ISDE subsidy of just over €2,000 the amount falls further. Set against that is a lower gas bill, because the heat pump does most of the work for most of the year and the boiler only steps in when it is cold. De Telegraaf called it the “forced pump” and quoted readers who call it unaffordable and unworkable. The cabinet says the current pace of replacement is too low to meet the climate targets. Every year hundreds of thousands of boilers are replaced; if that moment is used, the switch will speed up of its own accord, the thinking goes. Installers have pointed to a shortage of skilled workers for years. Nor is every home suitable: poorly insulated homes gain less, and some apartments have no room for an outdoor unit. How exceptions will be handled has not yet been settled. The same day De Telegraaf reported that the cabinet is dropping a plan for new green loans; we could not yet confirm that in a second source. For anyone who needs a new boiler in the coming years, nothing changes for now. It is, however, sensible to have the options calculated now if your boiler is ten years old or older.

Read the whole story and DailyDrop’s take
By the numbers
2029Earliest start of the standard when a boiler is replaced
± €8,000For a hybrid heat pump including installation, according to the NOS; a boiler costs about €2,000
2027Spring: bill, then consultation
Education · MoneyPress ✓ 2 outlets · DUO interest decision, as reported

Interest on student debt jumps. Former students will pay up to 3.28 percent

Hundreds of thousands of former students will pay more interest on their student debt. The NOS reports that the rate is rising by roughly one percentage point; according to NRC it involves a rate of at most 3.28 percent. It concerns former students whose fixed interest period expires and a new one begins.

Two days earlier it emerged that total student debt is shrinking for the first time. But for those who studied under the loan system, repaying now becomes more expensive. The interest follows the market rate on government bonds, which has risen because of unrest on the European bond market. How much it differs per month depends on the debt and the repayment plan; those who repay based on ability to pay notice it less directly. Former students repay according to income, and those who earn little can have their repayment lowered. The debt does then keep growing for longer. The interest decision comes at a moment when European rates are rising because of unrest over France; the Dutch ten-year rate stood at 3.62 percent on Wednesday morning.

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Word of the day
Interest periodMoney

The period during which the interest rate on a loan is fixed. For former students’ debts this is always five years; after that a new rate is set.

World · NetherlandsPress ✓ 5 outlets

Three years after October 7: commemorations in Israel and Amsterdam, swastikas in Nieuw-Lekkerland

Israel commemorated Hamas’s attack of October 7, 2023 on Wednesday, for the first time with no hostages still held in Gaza, NU.nl reported. At the exact time of the attack, Israelis stood in silence. In Amsterdam the day was marked in a synagogue, with personal stories and, among others, Yesilgöz and Van der Plas in the room. In the Gaza Strip, three more people died in Israeli attacks despite the ceasefire, NRC wrote.

In Nieuw-Lekkerland, streets were defaced with dozens of swastikas inside an Israeli flag, NU.nl and the NOS reported. On Dam Square, pro-Palestinian demonstrators held a protest. The day shows how sensitive the subject remains in the Netherlands. Elections are held in Israel at the end of this month.

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ScienceSource ✓ Nobel Committee · Press ✓ 3 outlets · names not in our sources

Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to a Frenchman and a Japanese man, for left- and right-handed molecules

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to a French and a Japanese chemist, the Volkskrant reported. They receive the prize for work on chiral molecules: molecules that exist in a left-handed and a right-handed form, each other’s mirror image, like your two hands.

Trouw described it as a recipe for asymmetric molecules; NRC called it one of the most elegant chemical experiments ever. The difference between left and right is not academic. With medicines, one form can work and the other be harmful. The Nobel Prize in Literature follows on Thursday.

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Economy · GasPress ✓ 4 outlets · amount not the same in two sources

NAM pays out billions again to Shell and ExxonMobil. According to newspapers, in breach of an agreement with the State

The Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) is again paying a large dividend to its owners Shell and ExxonMobil. The FD and NRC write that the company is thereby breaking an agreement with the State; Trouw calls it a party for shareholders at the expense of its own buffers. The NAM itself says enough will remain for repairing damage from gas extraction in Groningen, the Volkskrant reports.

On the stock market it was a red day. The AEX fell 0.94 percent to 1,117.75 points. A rising oil price, with Brent above $100, and rising interest rates weighed on sentiment. The French ten-year rate rose to about 4.9 percent, and the euro gave back Tuesday’s gain. Chip company Besi was the biggest decliner, more than 8 percent, after a negative analyst report.

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In brief
  • Russia kills nineteen residents of an apartment building in Ukraine, including five childrende Volkskrant · NU.nl
  • Kosovo’s parliament elects a president and breaks the political deadlockTrouw · de Volkskrant
  • Trump phones Putin about the death at a plague institute; the WHO wants more informationNOS · NU.nl
  • Christa Pike is conscious and able to talk after a failed execution in the USde Volkskrant · Trouw · NRC · NU.nl
  • Oscar winner Eva Marie Saint dies at the age of 102NRC · de Volkskrant
  • Half a million chinstrap penguins vanish from a sub-Antarctic island; climate change is the causeNRC · NOS
  • Astronomers possibly discover a planet that formed from the remains of a dead starNOS · NU.nl
Seven minutes every evening, one front page — see About

Unverified — what we could not confirm

“The Netherlands refuses Ukraine an extra €2 billion in support.” Only De Telegraaf reported it. We found no confirmation from the cabinet or from a second outlet.
“Offshore wind farms threaten to shut down.” This is a warning from one company in one newspaper. NU.nl did report that thousands of wind and solar farms are vulnerable to cyberattacks.
“Queen will never tour again.” Brian May said earlier that fifty years is enough, but now denies that Queen is stopping for good. His words were misinterpreted, he says.
Glossary · dotted words — economics, law, security and science terms explained in the context of the story. The list grows every day.
INSIDECabinet wants a hybrid heat pump as the standard after all. From 2029, with a new boilerHousing · EnergyInterest on student debt jumps. Former students will pay up to 3.28 percentEducation · MoneyThree years after October 7: commemorations in Israel and Amsterdam, swastikas in Nieuw-LekkerlandWorld · NetherlandsNobel Prize in Chemistry goes to a Frenchman and a Japanese man, for left- and right-handed moleculesScienceNAM pays out billions again to Shell and ExxonMobil. According to newspapers, in breach of an agreement with the StateEconomy · Gas