The rental residential sector is likely to be the main driver of value growth for real estate investors in 2025, says Jeroen Beimer, head of research at Holland Metropole partner Bouwinvest.

“Inflation and the accompanying interest rate policy have significantly impacted the real estate market in recent years, leading to declining valuations,” says Jeroen. “Inflation has decreased somewhat but the inflation level in the Netherlands remains relatively higher than in our surrounding countries.”

The current global geopolitical situation makes the economic outlook uncertain, and Jeroen expects that this will dampen the anticipated recovery in the Dutch real estate market. In addition, ECB interest rate cuts are not a certainty, he says, and for the Dutch real estate market, this could mean that initial yields will see little movement.

“The primary driver of value growth will therefore be rental growth, particularly in segments with strong demand and limited supply, such as the housing market,” says Jeroen.

“Real estate, with its stable cash flows, has shown itself to be a good hedge against inflation in recent years, and we expect this to remain the case. For a long-term investment horizon, 2025 could be a good ‘vintage year’ for real estate investments. We also anticipate a gradual increase in investor interest.”

Although Beimer expects only limited interest rate cuts, he does see opportunities for yield compression in niche segments of the housing market that are currently underdeveloped. Sectors such as student housing and private residential care, he says, show above-average growth potential and therefore offer an attractive risk-return profile.

“From the demand side, the Dutch housing market, including healthcare real estate, has strong underlying fundamentals and should be attractive to investors,” he says. “At the same time, the Dutch housing market is not unique in this regard. It is a European phenomenon, and the Netherlands is competing for capital with other European markets.”

One problem facing the Dutch market is that of uncertainty about regulations and unfavorable tax measures. The Netherlands needs to build approximately 1 million homes by 2034, and this is going to cost some €400 billion in capital.

“Our message to the national government is clear: ensure consistent policies and an investment climate that is attractive to capital, both nationally and internationally,” Beimer says.

Photo: Bouwinvest 

Dutch housing minister Mona Keijzer has published new rules to speed up residential housing development in the Netherlands, including placing restrictions on the right to appeal and making it easier to build in rural areas.

The aim of the measures is to ensure that enough affordable housing is built, that procedures are shorter, and that everyone has an equal chance of getting a home, the minister said.

The legislation, Keijzer said, will “provide legal instruments for government and local authorities to work more quickly with the private sector in building both sufficient and the right kind of housing. It is also important to ensure that people with an average income have the opportunity to find an affordable home in every local authority area.”

Cutting red tape

Current planning rules state that applications for new residential locations should be supported by evidence that there is a need for housing in that particular place, limiting development outside current town and city boundaries.

This procedure requires additional research, time, and costs and will therefore be scrapped, the minister said, adding that this will make it quicker and easier to build outside existing urban areas.

In an effort to cut down on protests, protesters will only be allowed one legal appeal instead of two in projects of more than 12 units, and the ruling must be made within six months, the minister said.

30% social housing

The new rules also state that two-thirds of new builds in the Netherlands should be accessible to people on low and average incomes and that 30% should be social housing on a regional rather than a project basis. This was agreed at December’s housing summit between the government, developers and investors and marks a shift in the current project-based percentages.

The rules also make it easier for homeowners to build a “granny flat” on their property without a permit and simplify the regulations for sustainable construction.

Affordability a challenge

“The measures are a step in the right direction, but still more can be done,” said Dutch developers’ organisation Neprom in response. In addition, affordability remains a challenge, Neprom said.

“The agreement that two-thirds of new developments should be classed as ‘affordable’ is becoming increasingly difficult to realise,” Neprom said. “What does help is that planning procedures are now being made uniform and agreed at a regional level.”

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Holland Metropole member Bouwinvest plans to invest €1 billion in housing in the Netherlands over the coming years to increase the supply of affordable and sustainable homes.

“We are able to do this thanks to our shareholders, the Dutch pension funds,” says Paul van Stiphout, Fund Manager Dutch Residential Investments. “Capital can be fickle, but a stable, high-value shareholder base allows us to plan for the future.”

Shareholders seek a return on investment of 5.5% to 7% by developing sustainable homes in the mid-market sector and just above, Paul says. “We can improve affordability in the long term by increasing housing supply. We will also sell older properties to fund new construction. We’ve agreed at least 50% of our capital will go to new builds, ensuring growth in the total housing stock.”

One million new homes

However, additional capital is needed to fully address the housing shortage in the Netherlands. The government aims to build one million new homes, an effort requiring around €400 billion in investment.

“This is significantly beyond our capacity alone,” Paul says. “Dutch pension funds have already heavily invested in the market. To meet the target, new capital must come from foreign investors, including pension funds in Canada, Germany, and Switzerland.”

The Dutch housing market has attracted foreign investors due to its transparency and maturity. Public-private partnerships are common, and institutional investors play a crucial role. However, competition from other European markets facing similar shortages presents a challenge in securing foreign capital.

European problem

“Our tight housing market is a European phenomenon and we are competing with European markets with cities like London, Berlin and Madrid,” Paul points out. “If these markets have beter investment conditions than we have, then the capital is more likely to move there.”

Housing minister Mona Keijzer has committed to reducing bureaucratic hurdles and planning requirements to speed up construction. She has also allocated €2.5 billion to infrastructure improvements, flood risk management, and expanding electricity grid capacity.

In addition, the transfer tax on residential property sales, currently 10.4%, will be reduced to 8% in 2026 to encourage investment.

“We call for a stable, stimulating long-term investment strategy and a competitive tax regime,” Paul says. “We must have the equal conditions for all investors, domestic and foreign. We need capital, and international players must feel welcome. The government must enhance the investment climate to make this possible.”

In total 82,000 homes were added to the Dutch housing stock last year, including new build, repurposing old buildings and subdividing existing units, according to new Dutch housing ministry figures.

The total is below the government target of 100,000 new homes a year and the dip is likely to continue in 2025, housing minister Mona Keijzer said. However, from 2026, when government measures begin to take effect, production will grow and from 2027, the target will be met, the minister said.

According to housing ministry statistics, plans for 1,021,000 new homes have now been drawn up.

Slashing red tape

“The measures we are now implementing will bear fruit in a couple of years,” the minister said. “But every step forward is an advance. Our main focus is to remove obstacles to new construction projections, such as local authority red tape, and make better use of existing buildings.”

In December the minister hosted a housing summit with developers, investors, construction firms, local and regional governments, and housing corporations who all signed an agreement aimed at speeding up the development of new homes.

Developers’ organisation Neprom was among the signatories of the deal. “The time for sitting back and waiting for problems to resolve themselves is over,” said Neprom chairman Ronald Huikeshoven. “We have all made difficult decisions to meet each other halfway and look at how things can be done.”

Affordable housing pledge

The signatories to the deal have committed to ensuring that two-thirds of all new developments at the regional level will be “affordable,” and that, in time, 30% of the new properties will be social housing, with rent caps and income requirements for tenants.

This marks a shift from the previous government’s emphasis on ensuring affordable housing in every project. The government has also pledged additional funding to cover the immediate costs of expanding the social housing supply, provided that local councils contribute 50% of the funding. This may well prove a stumbling block, given central government is planning to cut local authority funding.

At the same time, minister Keijzer acknowledged that uncertainties remain around infrastructure issues that need to be addressed, including electricity grid congestion, nitrogen emissions, green spaces in and around cities, and flood risks. She has set aside €2.5 billion to help ease these problems.

Standardisation and less red tape

The signatories have also agreed to standardise rules and regulations, meaning that local councils can no longer impose their own rules on top of those set by the national government. The government itself will no longer introduce regulations that go beyond those agreed at the EU level – a decision which led the minister to earlier tear up the requirement that all new property includes bat and bird boxes.

However, developers are still concerned about the challenges of delivering enough affordable housing and say the financial coverage remains uncertain. “We hope that the agreements made… will provide enough leverage for our members to invest in housing construction in a way that makes economic sense,” Huikeshoven, who also chairs developer AM, said.

Holland Metropole members had earlier expressed concerns about the investment climate and the challenge they face to attract capital to invest in affordable housing.

Holland Metropole partner Achmea Real Estate has launched a new impact fund aimed at acquiring older rental homes and making them more energy-efficient and sustainable.

The Achmea Dutch Residential Impact Fund (ADRIF) is the first of its kind in the Netherlands and aims to reduce the number of rental homes with an energy label of D or worse. Approximately one million rental properties in the Netherlands fall into this category.

The funds will be used to purchase older, poorly insulated rental homes and make them more sustainable. These will primarily be housing complexes owned by large investors and housing corporations looking to sell part of their portfolio, or private investors with reasonably large portfolios. The fund will not purchase homes from individual owners.

Pension funds

Achmea has invested €50 million into the fund and invited other institutional investors, such as pension funds, to participate, with the goal of reaching €1 billion by 2030.

“Together, we face an enormous challenge in making existing homes in the Netherlands more sustainable,” said Achmea executive board member Daphne de Kluis. “We need to act quickly, and this requires considerable investment. Our investment is just the first step.”

Achmea plans to make the homes Paris Proof. The roofs, façades, and floors will be insulated, and HR++ glass will be installed throughout the properties. Additionally, gas-fired central heating systems will be replaced by electric heat pumps or connections to district heating schemes.

Cost to tenants

These measures, Achmea states, will lead to significantly lower CO2 emissions per home. Tenants will also benefit from more comfortable homes and significantly lower energy bills.

Tenants will experience a slight increase in rent to cover the costs, but when energy bills are taken into account, their total housing costs will remain the same or decrease slightly, provided energy consumption and household size remain unchanged.

“This means that the project will not only benefit the climate but also contribute to keeping housing affordable,” Daphne de Kluis said.

Annual return

The fund aims for an average annual return of 6% for participating investors, comprising direct rental income and the expected increase in property value. This, according to Boris van der Gijp, co-chairman of Achmea Real Estate, will enable institutional investors to contribute to meeting the Paris climate targets “while achieving an appropriate financial return.”

Holland Metropole partner Bouwinvest and two of the Netherlands’ largest pension funds launched their own social impact fund in December 2023 to boost the stock of affordable and care-related homes in the Netherlands.

The civil service pension fund ABP, one of the largest funds in the world, has committed €250 million, while the building sector fund bpfBOUW has contributed €150 million to the partnership. The focus of the Social Impact Real Estate Partnership is on housing for groups in the Netherlands who are currently struggling to find a home.

Across Europe, cities are grappling with a pressing issue: how to accommodate population growth, lifestyle changes, and grow in a managed, sustainable way. A special panel session organised by the Holland Metropole alliance at the Expo Real real estate fair in Munich focused on the challenges and possible solutions.

There was almost total unanimity at the session on the first day of Expo Real that affordable housing is one of the very top priorities for European cities. However, opinions diverged when it came to whether the solutions already exist or need to be created and developed over the next five years. A significant number of participants expressed doubt that current systems are sufficient, arguing that new approaches must be developed if the problem is to be addressed.

At the heart of the discussion was the critical need for collaboration between government bodies and private investors, with neither side able to solve the problem alone. Public and private entities, panelists and delegates said, must align their interests and work together to develop innovative solutions.

Regulations

Gemma Kendall, head of multi-family homes investments at JLL argued that regulatory consistency is often more important to investors than the specifics of the regulations themselves. When rules change overnight, it becomes difficult for investors to plan long-term, which ultimately hampers the development of affordable housing. The panel agreed that consistent, long-term regulatory frameworks are essential for attracting and retaining investment in affordable housing.

Despite the complexities, there are encouraging examples of cities that have successfully aligned public and private interests to deliver affordable housing.

Jace Tyrell, CEO of Opportunity London, illustrated this point by presenting London’s approach to affordable housing. With a population approaching 10 million, London is under immense pressure to increase its housing supply. Tyrell highlighted a £5 billion housing fund proposal that would be shared by 10 to 15 pension funds. The aim is to deliver 20,000 discounted market rent homes across the city. This initiative demonstrates how the public sector can de-risk investments by fostering partnerships that provide attractive opportunities for private investors.

Eindhoven

In Eindhoven, the city has partnered with national government and private companies, securing over €4.5 billion in funding to support housing and infrastructure development. Deputy mayor Stijn Steenbakkers emphasised that Eindhoven’s success in addressing its housing challenges is due to private companies like ASML understanding their vested interest in ensuring that all workers, highly skilled professionals but also blue collar workers, can afford to live in the city.

In Madrid, the “Plan Vive” initiative has attracted international investment through a partnership between public authorities and private developers. A Japanese equity group, has collaborated with local entities to build affordable housing projects across the city, which were oversubscribed 13 times upon completion. Since its adoption in 2021, more than 4,500 affordable homes have been delivered or are underway. This demonstrates how, with the right incentives, public-private collaborations can meet housing demand while delivering returns for investors.

Investable products

The panellists also highlighted the importance of building investable products that meet the investors’ requirements. So far, the creation of international residential portfolios across Europe has been one tool for investors to diversify their portfolios but the differences in national regulatory environments are a barrier to greater investment.

To attract investment, cities need to focus on making their markets more accessible and investor-friendly. This includes streamlining planning processes and offering financial incentives, such as those available in Germany or in Spain. By reducing uncertainty and offering clear pathways for investment, cities can encourage private capital to flow into affordable housing projects.

The session also underscored that solving the affordable housing crisis requires more than just financial investment. Successful partnerships, like those seen in Eindhoven and Madrid, are built on trust, mutual understanding and shared goals. This trust is essential for projects that require significant upfront investment and long-term commitment, particularly when it comes to large-scale urban development.

Recommendations

Looking ahead, the conference participants offered several recommendations for addressing Europe’s affordable housing crisis.

1. Public authorities need to be proactive in creating conditions that attract investment, and in providing regulatory certainty.
2. At the same time, developers need to be open to new forms of collaboration that go beyond traditional development models and do not focus only on returns.
3. Expanding public-private partnerships and creating development corporations can help align the interests of all stakeholders and foster the trust necessary for successful housing projects.

Panelists: Stijn Steenbakkers, Jace Tyrell, Gemma Kendall, James Wythe (Aviva Investors), Michael Fink (Catella Investment Management)

Moderator: Tim Moonen

Report: Borane Gille and Greg Clark

The Holland Metropole alliance is heading for the Expo Real trade fair in Munich with a record delegation made up of 37 cities, investors, developers, architects and other organisations closely involved in the Dutch real estate market.

Senior government officials and Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma are among the participants who will be taking part in sessions on solving the affordable housing challenge and making urban growth work.

This year much of the Holland Metropole focus is on attracting investment, given the new Dutch government’s restated commitment to building 100,000 new homes a year. The government has pledged to cut back on red tape and speed up procedures and is organising a major summit on housing later in 2024 in an effort to make sector-wide concrete agreements.

The new government has also pledged to continue to pressure the European Commission to take a speedy decision about expanding the options for state support in affordable home construction by both housing corporations and the private sector.

“This really is the right time to step into the Netherlands as a foreign investor,” says Ronald Huikeshoven, managing director of area developer AM and new chairman of Dutch developers association Neprom. “The government is ready, developers are ready and the councils are ready. Everyone is combining their strengths to focus on affordable, residential area development.”

Experts estimate the some €400 bn needs to be invested in affordable, rental housing and that is a tremendous amount of money, says Mark Siezen, chief executive of real estate investor Bouwinvest. “It is a massive challenge to attract capital, but together we are committed to working on improving the investment climate. It is a shared public private mission and a very necessary one.”

The Dutch housing market is an attractive one to foreign investors because it is highly transparent and mature. In addition, public private partnerships have always been the norm and there is an important role for institutional investors.

About Holland Metropole

Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven are thriving cities in their own right. As an alliance, they form one of the most competitive regions in the world. Meet the Holland Metropole partners at the Holland Metropole stand in Hall A2, 130, or join one of their events in the busy conference line-up.

Monday October 7

10.00 – 10.50 Solving the affordable housing challenge: the roles of cities, government and investors. Panelsession moderated by Greg Clark, Exhibitor Stage, Hall C2, booth 430. More info!

13.30 to 14.50 The New European Bauhaus: Affordable Housing, Energy Efficiency, Construction. Panel session with Robert van Asten (The Hague). EXPO REAL FORUM, hall A2, booth 450. More info!

15.00 – 15.40 Urban Expansion and Redevelopment in the Century of Cities: Renewal of Port Cities. Panelsession moderated by Greg Clark, with Rotterdam deputy mayor Chantal Zeegers. DECARB Forum, Hall A3 TB51. More info!

16.00 – 16.50 Making Urban Growth Work: Affordable Housing. Panelsession moderated by Greg Clark. DECARB Arena, Hall A3 TB51. More info!

Tuesday October 8

10.15 – 11.00 Remaking Cities for the new world order: Keynote introduction. Panel session moderated by Greg Clark, with Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma. DECARB Arena, Hall A3 TB51. More info!

11.15 – 12.00 Remaking Cities for the new world order: Retrofit and Re-Use. Panelsession moderated by Greg Clark, with Eindhoven deputy mayor Stijn Steenbakkers. DECARB Arena, Hall A3 TB51. More info!

11.30 – 12.00 Introduction of the book ‘The Architecture of Ageing’ by de Architekten Cie. First edition will be handed to Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma. Holland Metropole stand, Hall A2, 130.

13.00 – 14.30 Regional Innovation Valley Utrecht: Heart of health. Hall A2, room A21 More info!

15.00 – 16.30 Metropolitan areas in transition to achieve real social value. Hall A2, Room A21. More info!

For more information, contact: Annemieke | annemieke@hollandmetropole.com

“We’re leading the charge to change the way of construction in the Netherlands, and hopefully in Europe,” says Joziene van de Linde, managing director of modular construction company De Meeuw, which joined the Holland Metropole alliance this year.

Her mission is to change the way developers and construction companies think about modular building which, she says, offers huge advantages to traditional techniques, particularly given the pressure to build more homes at present.

“There is a housing crisis in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe, and the way we have built homes for the past 100 years is not going to work anymore,” she says. “We need to build quickly and we need to reduce our impact on the environment. Prefabricated buildings, modular ones in particular, used to be considered to be cheap rubbish and were used at times of crisis. We want to show that today’s modular approach fits in upscale developments and high rise as well.”

Green advantages

Winning hearts and minds for this faster and less environmentally-taxing approach to construction led De Meeuw, part of the giant Dutch industrial group VDL, to start its own projects.

One of these is next to the company’s headquarters in Oirschot, which borders Eindhoven, and where 100 prefabricated homes are being built on the company’s own land. “We can show that we believe in the quality of our own products and that we are able to build very high-quality homes, not only social housing but high-end apartments,” says Joziene.

De Meeuw’s Oirschot factory is capable of turning out five hundred square metres of building per day using its modular construction technique, or about 12 homes.  “If you build a complex 10 or 20 storeys high in an inner city location it takes you two years of coming and going with heavy lorries,” Joziene says. “We can do it in 10, 12 weeks. We’ve done all building in our own factory and we just need to assemble it at the location, polish the façade and then we’re done.”

Cheaper and faster

There are other advantages too. “Environmental building standards, at a European level, are okay, but I believe we can do way better, specifically in the construction process and in the choice of materials,” Joziene says. “The pre-fabricated construction produces half the CO2 and 25% of the nitrogen-based pollution when compared with regular construction, which is a huge difference.”

Modular construction is also cheaper, given that the costs of engineers and architects have already been factored in through the design of turnkey modules. “Architects can put together their own design and building with our building blocks, without the need for a structural engineer. After which we can produce that building,” she points out.

The idea that modular construction produces rows of identical boxes is totally outdated, she says. “It is certainly not a one-size-fits-all all approach. One of the best compliments someone visiting one of our projects can give me is to say, ‘Oh, it’s just a home. There is nothing special about it’.”

You can meet Joziene and the rest of the De Meeuw team at the Holland Metropole stand at Expo Real from October 7 to 9. Hall 2, stand 130.

Illustration: VDL DeMeeuw’s modular housing in practice

The lessons learned in creating innovative and iconic buildings are being used to create affordable housing and stronger communities, says Gideon Maasland, director and an architect at MVRDV, one of the Holland Metropole alliance’s design partners.  

MVRDV is the architect’s studio behind the iconic Valley in Amsterdam’s business district as well as dozens of other award-winning projects around the world. Valley itself, says Gideon, stems from a desire to break away from the generic concept of a tower block with hundreds of identical apartments.

“People want to live in a community, but in blocks of 600 identical apartments, you can’t even point out where you live,” says Gideon. “If we talk to people about how they want to live, you get a sketch with an angled roof, a tree, a fence, a car and a dog. But at the same time, we are densifying cities enormously and we are building blocks that are nothing like the sketch. With Valley we thought, ‘why not make far more green structures with terraces you can actually use?’.”

Valley was expensive, but lessons learned in a project like this can be translated into more affordable buildings. “For example, we learned a lot about how to build complex shapes, which would not have been possible before,” says Gideon. “So social housing also benefits… The market tends to make things affordable by making them smaller. That helps, but it is not always the right approach.”

Communal spaces

At the same time, he says, with apartments getting smaller, architects also need to think about the social and communal spaces where people can meet. “If your apartment is small and you want to celebrate your birthday, perhaps there should be somewhere else in the building you can rent for a party,” he says. “This is much better organised abroad. In Hong Kong, for example, apartments are small but communal areas are celebrated.”

In addition, it is crucial to mix different communities within a complex. “Interestingly, young people often have the same demands as old people,” he says. “Old people are often lonely for example, because their social circle becomes smaller with time. Youngsters too can suffer from a lack of social contact. So it is important to create a mix of people who can learn from each other and help each other.”

Concrete and carbon

Valley was completed two years ago and when it was designed in 2016 it was at the cutting edge of sustainability. “Now you can look at it and say ‘there is an awful lot of concrete’, and yes, it is a concrete structure,” Gideon says. “But perceptions have changed so much over the years. Carbon is a big topic at the moment.”

Gideon believes that a type of concrete will be developed which will solve the carbon issue altogether. At the same time, the demand for more sustainable buildings is pushing architects to look more toward redeveloping what is already there. “As architects we are used to starting with a blank page, an empty plot, and that is not the right approach anymore. The buildings, the things you can keep, add a certain quality to a new design.”

Illustration: MVRDV’s Nachteiland is an energy positive, timber hybrid tower

Last year, Ballast Nedam Development became the first residential developer in the Netherlands to kick off the market for carbon credits derived from developing and building climate positive homes. Now the company has introduced carbon credits for apartments, through its Horizon’s project in Amsterdam.

Natuurhuis, or Nature House, first hit the headlines last year, when Ballast Nedam Development announced its plans to develop climate positive homes which were built of wood and insulated with straw, with a green roof and walls and built-in nests for birds and insects.

The company has since signed a partnership with Climate Cleanup Foundation to attach a monetary value to the CO2 storage in the project. While the Natuurhuis’s biobased materials – timber, hemp and straw – grow, they take in CO2 and store it. By putting a price on that storage, climate-positive building projects can compete with projects that use more polluting materials such as concrete and steel.

“The shockwave this created is a signal carbon credits will become an integral part of real estate development,” says chief executive Onno Dwars.  “Carbon credits will shape how buildings will look, how they behave and what role a real estate developer will play in society.”

The attention the move generated abroad means this way of developing and the knowledge it requires could become “one of the Netherlands’ most important export products,” he says. “By creating new business models the ever-growing need to achieve sustainability ambitions and create affordable homes without subsidised efforts from the government is closer to becoming a reality.”

Currently, people buying a home in the Netherlands can borrow up to €50,000 on top of the value of their property when taking out a mortgage, if their new home has the best possible energy label.

“Now the carbon credits market has become real, we expect new mortgage agreements to incorporate this as well,” Onno says. “And the best practices which have been learned, will also benefit subsidized and social housing. The more we use carbon positive techniques, the cheaper it will get. As soon as supply is up to speed, prices will drop and compete with current building practices.”

Ballast Nedam Development believes that energy-efficient designs, integrated water management systems and green urban development are crucial to offsetting the impact of climate change. Public-private partnerships, strong long-term public policies by the national government and a supporting financial system that prioritizes sustainable and climate-adaptive homes are, Onno says, essential to ensure sustainability and affordability on the road to a climate-neutral, or perhaps climate-positive 2050.

Both the Nature House near Eindhoven and Horizons Amsterdam will come on the market before the end of 2024.

“Carbon credits are real and it is only a matter of time before they impact on the entire industry,” says Onno. “Property developers are excited by the concept and as well as being motivated to achieve a high performing product that does good for the world. Carbon credits in residential housing will rapidly change both companies and lives.”

You can meet Onno and the rest of the Ballast Nedam Development team at the Holland Metropole stand at Expo Real from October 7 to 9. Hall 2, stand 130.

Illustrations:

The Natuurhuis near Eindhoven project is energy positive

Horizons Amsterdam is part of Amsterdam’s Sluisbuurt area development project

The Dutch government has published more details about its plans to get the residential market moving again and is hosting a housing summit with investors, developers, housing corporations, and local authorities later in the year.

The aim is to draw up agreements on stimulating more affordable homes and other housing construction, housing minister Mona Keijzer said at the publication of the government’s plans on September 17. 

“Tackling the housing shortage is an absolutely top priority and it must be possible to realise 100,000 houses next year,” Keijzer said. This will be done “not only by building faster but also by making better use of existing buildings”.

The minister is making €5 billion available for housing construction in the coming years, and to accelerate building procedures. A further €2.5 billion has been allocated to develop infrastructure and public transport links.

The government has also pledged to continue to pressure the European Commission to take a speedy decision about expanding the options for state support in affordable home construction by both housing corporations and the private sector.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to appoint the EU’s first commissioner for affordable housing as well as set up an investment platform for affordable and sustainable housing. She has also promised to review state aid rules and their impact on the housing sector.

Some of the new homes will be realized through major housing developments and so far 16 NOVEX locations for large-scale development have been identified nationwide. In smaller towns and villages, the development will be in the form of an extra street.  The government also plans to stimulate the building of 290,000 units for the elderly, including clustered and care developments.

The transfer tax for residential property sales, which investors pay over each property they buy, will be cut from 10.4% to 8% in 2026, which officials hope will stimulate more investors to enter the market.

Cutting red tape and reducing the time procedures take is also central to the government’s approach. The rules for repurposing existing buildings and subdividing large homes into smaller units will be simplified under the motto “yes, unless”. It will also be made easier for groups of friends to share a property.

In addition local authorities will be stimulated financially to take a proactive approach to allocating land and housing will have priority over wind turbines in areas where land for building is scarce. Any new regulations on sustainability and energy efficiency will come from Europe, rather than local initiatives, the minister said.

Photo: Mona Keijzer by Martin Beekman for the RVD

Area development is about more than just coming up with a house or a row of houses, says Helma Born, who has just taken over as new managing director of BPD in the Netherlands.

BPD, a founding member of the Holland Metropole alliance, has been responsible for the development of almost 400,000 homes since it was founded in 1946. The company still focuses on providing sustainable, affordable housing across the country but with a wider focus, on creating neighbourhoods where people will want to live and work.

“Area development is more about determining what makes a neighbourhood a good one for people to live in, and what services are needed,” Helma says. “It’s about how people will get to the area and about healthy living. It’s about making sure there are places to enjoy the outdoors in.”

Public private partnerships, she says, are the key to achieving this. “We work with other private sector companies and local authorities on multi-year projects and you have to do it together,” she says. “It is essential. Local authorities draw up the policies and say if a project can be realized and are also responsible for making sure it fits in with what is already there. Working together is crucial. Without it, things will not go well.”

The Dutch emphasis on public private alliances may partly be down to the long-established tradition of working together which has been made necessary by the country’s small size.

In Britain and the US, for example, the division between government and private developers is much more marked.

“The tradition of planning has always been something national and local government have been good at,” she says. “We’ve had some ups and downs, and now the state is making a statement again with the new planning legislation and the publication of its vision for residential development. We are so short on space and so much needs to be done that the government has to. I hope the new minister [Mona Keijzer] will continue with the same strategy – she has already hinted that she will.” 

“We don’t need new policy,” says Helma. “If you look at sustainability and resilience, we’ve pretty much got it under control when it comes to new developments, and affordability is going well too. But we need to be faster and make sure things don’t get bogged down in procedures. We’ve masses to do, and a certain moment you just have to get on with it.”

For example, she says, why does every development have to be treated as if it is special? “Take a city, where they build 4,000 new homes a year. I think 3,000 of them, perhaps 3,500 can be built with very little discussion. But we make every development a subject for debate and this is something where we can take action, by establishing clear routes to reach our objectives.”

Expo Real, she says, is a source of energy and inspiration. “The market has been fairly cautious in the past two years, but I hope this year everyone feels that things are improving,” she says. “Private buyers are buying and I hope that investors will start to feel the same way. The previous minister said we needed to build 900,000 homes and even though we have built some in the intervening period, that is still the case. It’s a gigantic job.”

You can meet Helma and the rest of the BPD team at the Holland Metropole stand at Expo Real from October 7 to 9. Hall 2, stand 130.

“Working in inner city locations demands more of developers given the complexity of current rules and the need to fit in with the community already there,” says Lonneke Zuijdwijk, who joined the management board of Heijmans Vastgoed as director this summer.

The Zuidwest development in The Hague is a typical example of a large and complex area development. The area, built in the 1950s, had become marginalised, with low-quality housing and poor facilities for the community living there.

“The first parts have been demolished and we have recently started the construction of the first new complex,” Lonneke says. “But it is not just about the bricks and the houses. It’s about the social impact we can make to change the neighbourhood by, for example, mixing owner-occupier homes with social housing and mid-market rentals.”

People living in the area have been widely consulted about the development plans, a key part of any major project, Lonneke says. “It’s about how you deal with the people who live there. It is also about education, and providing schools. It’s about work, playing fields, sports facilities, culture. This is something we really emphasis in our work.”

A complex project like The Hague Zuidwest, or the Hart van Zuid in Rotterdam, requires a specialized approach. “You have to look at a project differently, particularly in the early stages,” says Lonneke. “You have to form a connection with the people already living there and the entrepreneurs who work there. You need to listen to them and find out what is really needed. Sustainability, in the widest possible sense, is essential, and so is wellbeing. Wellbeing is a new factor and it highlights a change in how we approach projects.”

A more people-centred approach to development does make the job more complicated and requires different expertise. For example, Heijmans now employs ecologists and sociologists to help ensure that its targets are met. Boosting biodiversity and climate adaptation are also areas where advances can still be made, she says. European legislation will also be helpful in encouraging the sector to take further steps.

In addition, Lonneke is keen to see increased industrialisation in the sector, which she says boosts efficiency and frees up time to focus on other areas. “People are sometimes critical about industrialisation but we think if you use modular buildings, you have more time to focus on the environment, building on biodiversity and creating a community. The building itself is just one element in an area development project. More than that modular building has become much more varied and flexible as well.”

While sustainability is now a key part of any project in the Netherlands today, more can still be done in terms of improving construction materials such as circular concrete and wood  Heijmans has for example its own factory producing timber framing for homes.

“We have to deal with sustainability, affordability and all the rules associated with these issues, which are all together making it difficult to speed up the development of residential property,” she says. “But when you look at the social impact of the shortage of housing, you know all stakeholders involved in area developments have to get moving.

Meet Lonneke Zuijdwijk and the rest of the Heijmans Vastgoed team on the Holland Metropole stand at Expo Real which runs from October 7 to 9. Hall A2, stand 130

Illustration: Dreven, Gaarden, Zichten is part of The Hague Zuidwest area development

Urban planning in the Netherlands must be focused on densification, based around sufficient amenities, good public transport and green streetscapes, Edward Schuurmans, partner at KCAP said in an interview ahead of the Expo Real property trade fair in Munich.

To build enough houses in a country where there is a shortfall of at least 400,000 homes, local authorities and developers must look to both adding to existing residential areas in cities and adding streets to smaller villages on a fitting scale. “You have to both densify and build new neighborhoods” Edward says. “We must begin with densifying our cities and that means having better infrastructure as well. If you look at trains, for example, we in the Netherlands are somewhat late, compared with some other parts of Europe.”

KCAP has, for example, been working together with Lelystad city council to draw up a vision for transforming the eastern part of the city centre, involving a linear park, reduced car use and 1,200 new housing units, including a landmark building that will be 18 storeys high. The Fellenoord project around Eindhoven’s main railway station involves transforming a mono-functional area, dominated by infrastructure and offices, into a lively and mixed, dense urban district.

Integrated design

A switch to more sustainable forms of mobility is a key part of KCAP’s focus, with area developments edging out cars and bringing in more green spaces. “Our expertise spans architecture, urban design, and landscape and in the award-winning Cruquius project, located in Amsterdam’s former eastern harbour area, we incorporated all three disciplines,” Edward says. “This enables us to create integrated environments, where people can live and work happily. We believe in a mix of functions.”

New build properties in the Netherlands are now built to the highest energy saving standards and bio-based and circular construction materials are becoming more popular as well. So are we now reaching an end in regulating what can be done to ensure housing is as sustainable as possible?

“Fifteen to 20 years ago it was all about energy use and now it has all been regulated,” Edward says. “Everyone knows how their buildings need to perform and you could say every new building[ES1]  is sustainable energy-wise. I expect the use of bio-based and recycled material will be regulated too within the coming five years.”

CO2 targets

He predicts the next big issue that will be used to set targets for sustainable construction may well be CO2. “And that means covering the lifespan of a building, not just the construction process,” he says. “It will be about more than energy use or the construction materials. The next step could be to integrate the actual footprint of a building during its lifespan.”

“In the end, sustainability is all about what the gain for end user is, rather than Excel sheets,” Edward says. “Sustainability is often reduced to quantities, to figures, but it is actually about creating comfortable spaces. It is really about creating the best possible environments for people to live and work in.”

The KCAP team will be part of the Holland Metropole stand A2.130 at Expo Real in Munich from October 7 to 9.

Illustration: Part of the Cruquius development in Amsterdam. Illustration: Aiste Takauskaite

“This really is the right time to step into the Netherlands as a foreign investor,” says Ronald Huikeshoven, managing director of area developer AM and new chairman of Dutch developers association NEPROM. “The government is ready, developers are ready and the councils are ready. Everyone is combining their strengths to focus on affordable, residential area development.”

The new government has adopted the previous administration’s target of building 900,000 affordable homes in the Netherlands and is ready to act to speed up the development process which is crucial, he says, to ensure enough housing is built.

Yet while it is still vital to build affordable houses and work to boost sustainability, the social impact of area development is also becoming increasingly important.

For example, he says, loneliness is one of the most important issues facing both youngsters and the elderly. “So if you can help combat that through a development that helps people meet each other and make new friends, and keep an eye on each other, then you are really having a positive impact. On top of affordability and sustainability, this is what we really need as a society.”

Combining these factors, he says, is particularly an issue in area developments in the Netherlands, partly because the country is compact and space is at a premium, and partly because of tradition. And this, he says is where the concept of public private partnerships really comes in. “You can’t do it alone,” he says. “You need each other to make these sort of projects a success, especially when there are so many different interests involved.”

Combining all these different needs is one reason why it can take years to complete residential projects in the Netherlands, which is why Ronald supports the development of a different way of planning.

Rather than draw up a plan for housing, then for the roads, the electricity supply and dealing potential hindrances such as a nearby factory, he supports a parallel planning process, where everything is done at the same time.

“To do this you need the cooperation of everyone involved and to ensure everyone is committed to drawing up the plan within a short space of time,” he says. “Then, as private and public partners, you are really a team, working together, rather than reacting to someone else’s plan for this or that.”

The procedures for protesting about plans also need reforming he says, so that the interests of people who need a house are also taken into account. “When you live in a city, you need to understand that cities change. They evolve,” he says. “And that means keeping the history alive. So you should not knock down everything. You need to keep the old buildings and find new uses for them and then combine the old and new.”

It is equally important to make sure there is space for shops and services, and even for up and coming artists who, Ronald says, bring life to new urban developments and make it interesting to live somewhere.  “Everybody likes it when there is an old building incorporated into a new project,” he says. “It provides a link with the past. I recently moved and where I live now, an old industrial building has been converted into a brewery and café. And when I come home from work and I see everyone sitting outside, then I really feel like I am coming home.”

Illustration: AM’s Eleven Square project is helping transform the area around the Arena stadium south east of Amsterdam.

Legislation to bring more homes under the Dutch rent control system have been approved by the senate and are set to become law in the Netherlands on July 1.

Government officials say the new rules will result in some 90% of Dutch rental housing falling under some form of rent control although they will only apply to new tenancies.

Landlords and property developers have been campaigning to have the plans put on ice, arguing that the new measures will discourage investors from entering the affordable housing market.

Affordable new homes

In an effort to appease investors, housing minister Hugo de Jonge has agreed that developers who start work on new rental properties from now up to 2028 will be able to charge a premium of 10% on top of the official rise for a period of 20 years. The official annual rent rise will be based on either inflation or average wage increases plus 1%.

Senators also agreed to an assessment of the new legislation within three years.

Points for more amenities

In effect, De Jonge is hiking the current maximum rent in the rent-controlled sector from €879 per month to €1,157 – based on the number of points a property is worth.

At the moment landlords have free choice in deciding the rent of property which is calculated to be worth more than 143 points in the regulatory system. Homes with fewer points are classed as social housing with a maximum price of €879 per month and only open to people on low incomes.

De Jonge’s new maximum will be between 186 points, which means far more properties will fall under rent controls. Points are awarded for amenities such as the number of bedrooms, whether or not the apartment has luxury bathroom fittings, and the age of the property.

The point system is also being overhauled to give more weight to high energy labels, outside space, and the quality of kitchens and bathrooms.

Lower rents for new tenants?

Ministry officials estimate the rent of some 300,000 homes will go down an average of €190 when a new tenant moves in, and that 113,000 additional homes will become rent-controlled.

Currently, 57% of the Dutch housing stock is owner-occupied, 33% is rent-controlled and just 9% is available for people earning more than €40,000 who wish to rent. Housing corporations own the bulk of the rental properties but 1.2 million are in the hands of private investors, many of whom just own a couple of apartments as a pension.

De Jonge’s successor Mona Keijzer, who takes over as housing minister on July 1, opposes the new rent controls but says she will abide by the senate decision.

Some 180,000 new homes have been built in the Netherlands during the past two years, and 800,000 more must be built by 2030, of which 60% will be classed as “affordable”. Many of them will be built at 35 locations nationwide which have been earmarked for development in agreements signed between the minister and local authorities.

Holland Metropole cities, developers and investors are again taking part at the annual Dutch real estate fair Provada, which runs for three days from June 11 at the RAI exhibition centre in Amsterdam. 

Holland Metropole members are also involved in many of the events in the busy trade fair programme and networking events.  

AM chief executive Ronald Huikeshoven will be talking about what can be done to restore the balance in the Dutch housing market while Boris van der Gijp, director Achmea Real Estate will focus on building homes for seniors. Bouwinvest’s director Mark Siezen will be discussing social and affordable housing on Wednesday morning along with BPD’s European chief Harm Janssen.

The Van Wijnen group has a packed programme with a special focus on mid-market rentals on Thursday, while Heijmans is focusing on “talking with passion” with a string of sessions covering the importance of biodiversity, social cohesion, and dealing with homelessness.

On the city front, on Wednesday lunch time, Fakton hosts a G5 debate between the five big Dutch cities, focusing on the complexity of urban development in high density areas, the role of national government and the need for public private partnerships, such as the Holland Metropole alliance.

Amsterdam has a busy programme of events, including a focus on waterfront redevelopment and timber based building. The Hague city council is hosting a panel discussion on how the influx of international workers and students impact on housing and what can be done to create more homes quickly.

On Wednesday at 10 am Eindhoven housing chief Mieke Verhees will be joined by representatives of the home affairs ministry and ASML to discuss Project Beethoven, the government’s roll-out of special measures to encourage international firms to stay in the region.

The fair will be officially opened by caretaker housing minister Hugo de Jonge who has been pressing through market reforms, such as expanding rent controls and slashing red tape, not all of which have been popular with the sector. De Jonge will also expand on his views on the future of public housing at a session on Tuesday afternoon.

The number of privately-owned rental homes in the Netherlands rose by a net 67,000 between 2021 and 2023, and most of the growth was down to new build and the transformation of existing buildings, according to Dutch national statistics agency CBS. 

The rise takes the number of homes in the Netherlands in the hands of investors to 14.3% of the total, or some 1.2 million. Of them, 385,000 are in the hands of big investors rather than private individuals or foundations. 

The Dutch private housing market is dominated by small players with just one or two homes, often as a pension provision and just 1,000 investors have more than 50 properties on their books, the CBS figures show.

New homes

The figures also show the private sector bought 78,000 of the new homes to come on the market in the two years under consideration – or 40% of the total. They also bought 70% of the homes derived from transformations or dividing existing buildings up into smaller residential units. 

Developers have warned that Dutch government plans to increase rent controls to cover more properties in the Netherlands will lead smaller investors in particular to sell, and there is some evidence this happening. Smaller homes, of up to 40 square metres, are almost certain to fall under the new rent control limit if it comes into effect later this year. 

MPs voted in April to extend the rent control limit to around €1,100 but the measure still has to pass through the upper house of parliament. Rents in the Netherlands are determined according to a point-based system, with points awarded for size, sustainability and facilities as well as location and property value. 

Developers welcome clarity

Dutch developers and investors have welcomed the clarity brought by the vote, in particular the decision by MPs to accept two crucial amendments covering the 10% rental supplement for new property and more recognition in the points system for energy-saving measures. 

“The law will not change the complex market conditions we are currently facing but does end the uncertainty, and that is of great importance to our members,” said Judith Nobart-ten Hoor, director of investors association IVBN. “Domestic and foreign capital requires stable policy and a healthy investment climate.”

Fahid Minhas, director of developers’ organisation NEPROM also welcomed housing minister Hugo de Jonge’s own concerns about the property transfer tax, which is currently 10.4% for private sector developers. De Jonge admitted it is “on the high side” from an international perspective and said he is prepared to tackle it in the autumn – should the current government still be in power. 

A former industrial area in The Hague is to be transformed into a residential district with 9,000 homes and city officials have just published their vision for the new development.

Laakhavens is a former urban port area adjacent to the main railway line and the Hollands Spoor station, which was once part of a bustling inland waterway network. With its factories and warehousing largely abandoned, the area is now about to be turned into a new urban district with a mixture of housing, retail, and other amenities.

The Hague city council has now put its design plans for the area out to public consultation, with work expected to start on the first project in 2025.

Older buildings considered to be part of the city’s industrial heritage will be repurposed and the design for the new development includes a series of apartment blocks which, at between 150 and 180 metres high, will be the tallest in the city. The waterfront will also be transformed with new housing, according to city council plans, which go into great detail about the design elements, from the use of traditional brickwork to the skyline.

“I have always said that if you want to add tens of thousands of homes to a city, then you have to do it properly,” city development chief Robert van Asten told the AD newspaper. “So we are going to get it right in one go.”

The plan not only includes a focus on striking architecture, but also on the outdoor spaces. “We have to make sure all these people live in a pleasant place,” Van Asten said. The project includes a large park on top of an underground car park which will be partly funded by €40 million from the national government. 

The aim is to ensure 55% of the area is either green or water, 25% is built up and 20% is paved or devoted to roads and footpaths. 

The Laakhavens neighbourhood forms part of the Central Innovation District, a project to redevelop large parts of the city between the three main railway stations. In total, 20,500 new homes will be built in the CID.

Artist’s impression: Gemeente Den Haag

New research by Cushman & Wakefield, on behalf of the Holland Metropole alliance, provides tools for the Dutch Home Affairs Ministry to make the housing investment market more attractive. Improvements, the research suggests, should be based on the following four aspects: 

Level playing field: Fiscal rules and regulations should not differentiate between private and Dutch institutional investors on the one hand and international institutional investors on the other; 

Stable investment climate: Regulations, government policy and the tax regime should be both constant and predictable for a longer period, from the development to the operational phase; 

Optimal cooperation: improve lead times and permit processes to speed up development and improve the relationship between the public and private sectors, based on trust; 

Fiscal and legal measures: Research, and possibly improve, recently amended tax measures such as transfer tax, the REIT regime, and value-added tax on investments in new build, repurposing and existing buildings. 

The ministry aims to realise 981,000 new homes in the coming years to reduce the shortage of housing. This will require investment of at least €400 billion. However, interest from international institutional investors has declined in recent years. This is worrying, given the need for capital to reach targets. 

Dutch institutional investors are an important source of capital but this is not enough to meet the challenge presented by building enough affordable, mid-market rental homes. International institutional investors can have a considerable role as providers of complementary capital on the Dutch housing investment market. However, they have a choice about where to locate in Europe and this increases the need to ensure the Netherlands has a strong, distinctive profile.

The Cushman & Wakefield research analysed the wants, requirements and willingness to invest of a number of international investors. These results were then projected on the current Dutch investment climate to highlight potential improvements that would benefit the Netherlands when compared with other European housing markets. 

Cushman & Wakefield then translated this into 11 concrete, achievable determinants prioritised according to their expected impact. This selection offers the Home Affairs Ministry concrete tools to research what options are realistic and to develop a cohesive strategy to improve the investment climate for foreign residential housing investors and attract capital for the national house building programme. 

A first step has now been taken. The ministries involved are actively pursuing dialogue with the sector in structured consultations, which has already resulted in a briefing to parliament focusing on improving the climate for residential investment. This will benefit everyone involved in production chain. The scope of the research focused on the institutional market and it would be beneficial to expand it to other main players in the housing market who also have a part to play in meeting the challenge.

You can read the entire report here (Dutch).

Contact Holland Metropole

Nicolette Klein Bog

n.kleinbog@bouwinvest.nl

Contact Cushman & Wakefield

Barbara Voskuil-Geerlings

Senior Marketing & Communications Manager

E: barbara.voskuil@cushwake.com

Housing minister Hugo de Jonge has published finalised and long-awaited legislation aimed at cutting red tape and speeding up the Dutch house building programme.

The draft law will give local, provincial and national government more powers to steer planning procedures and meet government targets of creating 981,000 new homes in the Netherlands by the end of 2030. 

“For too long we have thought that the market will bring supply and demand into balance,” De Jonge said. “But we realised that all the local decisions do not add up to what we need… this legislation will bring back our tradition of public housing.”

Location, location, location

One problem facing investors and developers at the moment is the lack of suitable locations to build the nearly one million homes needed. The new legislation requires all layers of government draw up zoning plans for a pre-determined number of properties, some of which will cater for specific groups such as students or seniors. 

Some two-thirds of these homes will be classed as affordable rental or owner-occupier properties and housing corporations, which own most of the Netherlands’ social housing, will also have a key role in this, the housing minister said.

Councils with relatively little social housing will have to ensure at least 30% of the new homes within their boundaries fall under rent controls. Those with a lot of social housing will have a target of 40% affordable rentals (currently up to around €1,100 a month) or owner occupier (up to €390,000) for new developments. 

The legislation also tackles red tape and simplifies and speeds up legal procedures and protests about developments. “You will still be able to protest… but at the moment the right to a view is considered more important than the right to a home,” De Jonge told the AD newspaper. “And that is absurd.” 

Village homes

There will be a specific emphasis on small locations on the edge of towns and villages which, De Jonge said, will ensure the country’s rural areas remain attractive places to live. In particular, projects involving fewer than 50 units will be less complex to get off the ground. 

People will also have to get used to living in smaller homes, De Jonge said. “Some homes will be smaller but houses in our busy little country are, on average, bigger than those in Germany and France. And we have an increasing number of single person households, when we primarily build family homes in the past.”

De Jonge hopes the legislation can pass quickly through both houses of parliament and come into force on July 1. 

Holland Metropole partners are among the 12 real estate sector groups which have called on the government to take urgent action to tackle the country’s “huge housing shortage”.

Developers, investors, local authorities, home owners, and tenants’ organisations have signed up to a new agreement to accelerate plans to build at least 100,000 new homes a year. Housing has become unaffordable or unattainable for an increasing number of people, the organisations argue.

In particular, there is a shortage of affordable homes for people starting on the housing ladder, seniors and people in need of care. This, they say, is partly due to increased construction costs, interest rates and government policies. But at the same time, many plans for new residential developments fail to get off the ground.

“We need to combine the forces of the private sector, public housing bodies and governments,” says Martin van Rijn, chairman of housing corporation umbrella group Aedes. “We should stop waiting for each other and start working at the same time, and get locals involved at an early stage.” 

In particular, the alliance is calling on the government to reduce the options for objecting to new developments, strengthen the capacity of the administrative court system and give more weight to the interests of house hunters in planning applications. Caretaker housing minister Hugo de Jonge said last year he planned to slash red tape and limit the right to appeal. 

In addition, ensuring that one third of the 100,000 new homes each year are rent-controlled and a further third are affordable will require financial backing from the government – of between €3 billion and €5 billion a year, the alliance says.

“The money is needed to build new infrastructure and for investments creating green spaces and for climate-adaptive measures,” says Tobias Verhoeven, director of developer Synchroon, and Holland Metropole member. “Without practical and financial support in the short, medium and long term, it will not be possible to realise the required numbers of homes of the desired quality.”

The groups involved have already agreed to standardize the requirements for new buildings and to promote prefabrication and called on the government to standardise its requirements for new and affordable housing at a national level.

Last November, the government announced it had set aside €300 million to help pay for the development of 31,000 homes, 80% of which are classed as affordable.

There is enough space to build hundreds of thousands of new homes in post-WWII parts of Dutch towns and cities, according to research by a Dutch architects’ office on behalf of the country’s housing corporations. 

The researchers said they had identified locations for 26,000 new homes in a quick scan of Amsterdam, The Hague, Almere and 10 other towns, and that building work could be carried out in tandem with an upgrade of residential areas that were built at least 40 years ago. The research focused on housing estates built between 1950 and 1980. 

“It is daft to build a neighbourhood and then do nothing more with it,” KAW board member Mathieu Kastelijn told the AD newspaper. “You have to make changes from time to time, to make sure places remain pleasant locations to live.” 

Reduce parking

Several factors still limit the number of homes that can be built to boost the density of existing residential areas. For example, rules on how many parking spaces are needed could be changed and public transport improved, the architects point out. “If locals are less dependent on their cars, you need less room for parking and that frees up room for new homes,” the KAW report said. 

Housing minister Hugo de Jonge suggested earlier that adding new floors to existing buildings and making it easier to split large homes into smaller units, would be ways of boosting the number of homes within the available space. 

A combination of adapting existing buildings, using up left over space, demolition and new construction, and expanding residential areas slightly would allow housing corporations to boost the number of rental homes in post-WWII locations by 25%, the KAW report concludes.  

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Housing minister Hugo de Jonge has made a major concession to developers who are concerned his plans to extend rent controls to cover more residential property would hurt investments, by allowing them to add a 10% supplement to the rent for new build. 

The 10% top-up, aimed at encouraging developers and investors to build more new homes, was originally 5% and would have been restricted to 10 years. De Jonge has now changed his position, doubling the supplement and removing the time limit, after developers said the new rules would seriously impair their ability to invest in the pipeline. 

The supplement will cover all new build rental property on which work is started in the next two years. 

Concerns

Institutional investors organisation IVBN and developers association NEPROM said in a joint reaction to the revised plans that more needs to be done to make sure construction does not slow further. In particular, they say, the supplement should apply to property built after 2025, and they want the transfer tax on the sale of real estate to be cut from 10.4% to 6%.

“Institutional investors need to be able to count on having a trustworthy and attractive investment climate to be able to continue to invest in mid-market rentals,” said IVBN director Judith Norbart-ten Hoor. 

“Over the past five years, institutional investors have added some 9,000 rental units to the market, or some 15% of the total new build in the Netherlands. And we want to keep doing that. Ultimately, people looking for a home will benefit most from that.” 

Rent controls

Developers also remain concerned about the minister’s plans to increase the limit for rent controls in the Netherlands to property worth up to €1,100 a month in the Dutch “points” system, a way of calculating rents based on a score for size, value, quality and outside space. 

However, the point system itself is also being overhauled to give more weight to properties that are highly energy efficient, have gardens or balconies, and high-quality kitchens and bathrooms – which will also benefit newly build property, De Jonge said.  

Landlords had lobbied hard against the introduction of the new rules, arguing that they would lead to a wave of sales as it becomes less profitable for landlords to rent out property. 

Nevertheless, at the beginning of February, the Dutch land registry office Kadaster said that the number of rental properties in the Netherlands increased last year. In 2023, investors owned 9.4% of the country’s housing stock, compared with 9% in 2022 and 8.6% in 2021, the Kadaster figures show. The increase is largely down to investment in newly-built properties by large real estate investors.  

New homes
Developers completed some 73,000 new homes in the Netherlands last year, well below the government’s target of 100,000 and fewer than in 2022, according to national statistics agency CBS.

But this year the total number of completions will fall still further because fewer permits were handed out in 2021, the CBS said. It takes an average of two years from permit to completion.

According to research carried out on behalf of the home affairs ministry, plans have been drawn up to build 1,075,000 new homes in the Netherlands between 2022 and 2030 – in line with government targets.

MPs decided on Thursday to press ahead with the legislation, pending the formation of a new government. 

After months of decline, the market for newly-built homes in the Netherlands seems to be improving, with estate agents reporting 8% more sales in the final three months of last year. And compared with 2022 Q4, sales of new build properties are up 57%, according to figures from estate agents organisation NVM.

In total, contracts were signed for 19,150 new build properties last year, with the average price reaching €468,000 by the end of the year. 
Supply is also increasing, NVM figures show. In the final three months of the year, over 19,500 homes were on offer, a rise of 17% year on year and the highest total since early 2016. The average price of properties currently on the market is €506,000. 

Apartments accounted for 46% of the offer, with detached and semi-detached homes accounting for 22%. 

Dutch housing market pressure

“We welcome the increase in new build supply because it is reducing pressure on the market for older properties,” said Chris van Zantwijk, an estate agent and deputy chairman of the NVM’s housing group. 

“And we really need the increase to meet demand. But let us not blindly stare at homes for first-time buyers. We also need to realise homes for people moving up the property ladder or downsizing as seniors. And we are concerned about the new build pipeline.”

At the end of last year, it emerged that the five Holland Metropole partner cities will get a combined €100 million from a special Dutch government fund to stimulate affordable housing projects which are at the planning stage but threatened by the current slowdown in housing construction.
In total, 145 local authority areas are benefiting from the StartBouwImpuls fund (SBI), which will help pay for 31,000 homes, 80% of which are classed as affordable. Local authorities, private developers and housing corporations are all involved in the projects which are eligible for a total of €300 million in government grants.

Rent control concerns

Meanwhile, Dutch developers organisation Neprom has said it is concerned about plans by Zuid-Holland province to only sanction new property developments if two-thirds of the homes are classed are “affordable” or cost less than €350,000, and one-third of the total is rent-controlled. 
This is a tougher line than the caretaker government has suggested (€390,000 and 27% rent-controlled) and will lead to fewer new homes being realised, Neprom says. 
“Of course, Neprom wants to try to ensure two-thirds of new homes are affordable, but it has to be possible financially,” the organisation said. “Increasing investments in energy-efficient housing, climate resilience, biodiversity, accessibility and so on have increased the costs of housing projects substantially.”

Rotterdam will soon be home to one of the longest rooftop parks in the world – a two-kilometre-long, six-metre-wide walkway on top of a former train viaduct between the port city and the resort of Scheveningen near The Hague. 

Part of the viaduct, at the former Hofplein station, has already been turned into a popular city park and now the design for the complete project has been finalised and the tendering process is about to begin.  

The Hofbogen viaduct was used for almost 100 years to take passengers to the seaside and its arches are still used today as shops, offices and restaurants.

“But what is currently a large grey mass on top of the arches will soon become a beautiful green walkway through the north of the city,” said city spatial planning chief Vincent Karremans. “It will be a place to take a stroll and relax, above the bustle of the busy street and among the treetops.”

City biodiversity

The planning includes particular attention to biodiversity and the design has a careful composition of plants to create a habitat for various animal species, such as bees and butterflies, toads, bats, birds and hedgehogs. There will also be special “entrances” so small animals can access the roof.  

In addition, the Hofbogenpark will have a water system that collects and purifies rainwater to help the city be better prepared for heavy rainfall and droughts. There are 14 entrances for pedestrians and three locations for cafes in the plans. 

In time, the city aims to make the streets around the viaduct greener too and to build a bridge over the A20 motorway so it connects with the city district of Schiebroek, a former village which in turn leads to the surrounding countryside. 

Community run

Rotterdam is also home to the Dakpark, a 1.2-kilometre-long community-run park built over a complex that contains a shopping centre, hundreds of car parking spaces, and a dyke that helps protect the entire Randstad region.

The Rotterdam project was inspired by New York’s green project High Line, which is now 2.4 long and between 10 metres and 20 metres wide and which attracts some eight million visitors a year. Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf was involved in designing the High Line park.  

Rotterdam has an ongoing programme to make the most of its roofs, saying the 18.5 kilometres of flat roofs in the city offer enormous potential for water retention, generating sustainable energy, and creating green roofs and terraces.

High tenant demand for sustainable, affordable housing, healthcare and retail property in sought-after Dutch locations offers institutional real estate investors real perspective in the coming years, as long as interest rates don’t rise, according to a new report by Holland Metropole partner Achmea Real Estate.

The Outlook 2024-2026 report says that “strong fundamentals” in the Dutch market continue to offer opportunities for institutionals, and that government plans to overhaul the pensions sector will not affect real estate’s relevance as an investment.

Real estate markets have had a “turbulent year” partly following European Central Bank interest rate rises to cool the economy and cut inflation, said Casper Hesp, director of investment management at Achmea Real Estate. 

Inflation under control

“In the year to September 2023, around 13% of the Dutch real estate market value evaporated, and that is a rare occurrence,” he said. “Now that inflation is under control, the ECB has the time to stabilise interest rates and then perhaps cut them in the second half of 2024. Lower interest rates will help the property market further stabilise and open up opportunities again for institutional investors.”

Interest in sustainable housing, healthcare real estate and retail premises is still high, Hesp said, adding that investors are becoming more demanding in terms of quality and location.

In particular, demand for affordable housing in the Netherlands is still strong, which makes it an interesting and low risk asset class. Mid 2023, the vacancy rate in this sector experienced by institutional investors was just 2%, a historic low. And this, the report said, is only likely to continue as the population grows in the coming years. 

A focus on ESG

At the same time, Hesp said, ESG is of increasing importance, from both a social and a financial perspective. The current pace towards meeting sustainability targets in the Netherlands means the terms of the Paris climate agreement won’t be met, he said. 

Achmea expects both tenants and policymakers will increase their focus on sustainability issues in the coming years. Institutional investors will have to not only invest in sustainable new build, but in making their existing policy more energy efficient. This is also essential to make sure investors are not left with stranded assets that cannot be leased or sold.

“EU legislation in this area is also becoming increasingly stringent and the value of sustainable real estate as opposed to unsustainable property will diverge,” said Hesp. “Real estate is an asset class with which pension funds can really make a difference.”

Holland Metropole partner Bouwinvest and two of the Netherlands’ biggest pension funds have agreed to work together to boost the stock of affordable and care-related homes in the Netherlands through a new Social Impact Real Estate Partnership. 

Civil service pension fund ABP, which is one of the biggest funds in the world, has committed €250 million and building sector fund bpfBOUW another €150 million to the partnership. The partnership’s focus will be on housing for groups of people in the Netherlands who are currently finding it difficult to find a home. 

The Netherlands has a particular shortage of affordable housing with rents of up to €1,000 per month and the new partners say the alliance aims to provide housing for lower and middle-income earners. In addition, the partnership is actively looking to invest in urban areas that currently lack social amenities.

Social ammenities

Some 80% of the partnership’s investment will be in ordinary housing and care-related homes while the rest will tackle other community-based real estate such as schools or community centres. All the developments will be energy-efficient, climate-resilient and sustainable. 

Bouwinvest will manage the partnership on behalf of the investors. “An increasing number of pension fund participants want the funds they invest to not only generate good returns but also to make a positive contribution to society and the environment,” said Bouwinvest’s impact investment director Maya Savelkoul. 

APB chairman Harmen van Wijnen said the pension fund is focused on attractive long-term investments. “It is even better if these investments can also help solve social problems,” he said. “The Netherlands has a housing shortage and our participants know this as well. This partnership enables us to do something about the problem.”

Housing targets

Meanwhile, caretaker housing minister Hugo de Jonge has admitted the government’s target to build 100,000 new homes a year will be missed again in 2023, by around 10,000 units.

At the same time, De Jonge said, on top of the target of 900,000 new homes by 2030, a further 400,000 will be needed in the following decade. 

The next cabinet, he said, will have to face “important choices” because both “physical and financial space will have to be found to meet housing requirements and to develop a cohesive, long-term spatial planning vision for the country”.

The five Holland Metropole partner cities will get a combined €100 million from a special Dutch government fund to stimulate affordable housing projects which are at the planning stage but threatened by the current slowdown in housing construction.

In total, 145 local authority areas are benefiting from the StartBouwImpuls fund (SBI), which will help pay for 31,000 homes, 80% of which are classed as affordable. Local authorities, private developers and housing corporations are all involved in the projects which are eligible for a total of €300 million in government grants.

Caretaker housing minister Hugo de Jonge said the money would help limit the impact of the downturn in the current construction market, which has been hit by interest rises and higher costs. “This extra support for local authorities will generate more speed and more focus so we can keep building affordable homes,” he said. “It will kick start projects which threaten to stagnate because of the more difficult construction climate.” 

Rotterdam has taken the biggest share of the Holland Metropole money – €26.7 million – which will be used to help get 13 projects off the ground. Some 64% of the Rotterdam homes will be classed as affordable. 

The city’s housing chief Chantal Zeegers said the investment is “extremely good news for those behind the projects and people who are looking for somewhere to live.” The money, she said, “will allow us to build over 2,600 homes and these homes are really needed in Rotterdam.”

The city has also set up its own fund to contribute €5,000 per unit towards projects that don’t qualify for funding from the government scheme. 

The Hague will get €25.7 million from the fund to build nearly 2,800 homes while Amsterdam will get €18.3 million for 14 projects totaling 2,105 units. Utrecht is being given over €19 million for eight projects with 1850 units and Eindhoven nearly €9 million for four projects and almost 900 homes. 

Haarlemmermeer, which is also a Holland Metropole member, will receive €2.7 million to help complete two projects with 262 homes. The money is being targeted at projects that are well into the planning stage so that work can start by 2025, even though changing economic circumstances have altered the business case. On average the government is contributing €10,000 to each housing unit.

The government’s most senior advisory body, the Council of State, has told housing minister Hugo de Jonge to improve his draft legislation aimed at increasing the amount of rent-controlled property in the Netherlands. 

At the moment it is “unclear” whether the new Affordable Rent Act will help prospective tenants and whether it will lead to a better supply of affordable rental housing, the council said in an analysis of the draft legislation.

There is also a “real risk” that the bill will lead to landlords selling their properties and a downturn in new construction, the council said, adding that it is also “unclear” how the minister intends to manage the risk that the bill will lead to the sale of existing rentals and fewer new builds. 

Scarcity and high demand

The current high rents are caused by scarcity and high demand, the advisory group said. “But in the legislation, the report said, the government is not paying enough attention to the causes of the lack of supply and the “interaction between the social sector, the owner-occupied market and the private rental sector”. 

The report was published on the same day that CBRE published new figures suggesting as many as 100,000 rental properties could be removed from the market over the next 20 years because of the increase in rent controls.  

Dutch developers have been warning for over a year about the likely impact of the increase in rent controls on the rental market and fewer new homes than expected were completed last year. The shortfall this year could be as many as 10,000, housing minister Hugo de Jonge warned earlier in November. 

Protection for tenants

De Jonge said in a reaction to the Council of State’s recommendations that new tenants usually pay ‘substantially more” for the same property when they sign a lease. The aim of the expansion of rent controls, he said, is to put an end to this and to offer tenants more protection. 

However, he said, it is “crucial” to focus on both regulation and on “realising an attractive investment climate for new affordable housing”. De Jonge points out that the ministry has already increased the temporary rental surcharge for new housing from 5% to 10% and is giving more weight to energy efficiency in determining the maximum rent for a property.

Now, he said, work can begin in adapting the bill to make it more substantial so that it can be debated in the lower house of parliament. The bill could come into effect in July 2024, he said, six months later than originally planned, but much will depend on the position of the next government. 

Developers, meanwhile, have welcomed the Council of State’s position. “We understand that excesses on the housing market need to be tackled,” said Desirée Uitzetter, chairwoman of developers organisation Neprom and area development director at Holland Metropole partner BPD. “But this legislation, in its present form,” she told the Financieele Dagblad “is not going to contribute to that.” 

Rotterdam receives €26.7 million from the government for the construction of new homes that are at risk of stalling, due to increased interest rates and construction costs. With this financial support from the ‘Startbouwimpuls, Rotterdam can build 2,647 homes within the next two years, with 64% of them falling into the affordable housing segment. Councilor Zeegers (Climate, Construction, and Housing): “This is incredibly good news for the initiators and, of course, for those looking for housing. With government support, the construction of over 2600 homes can start quickly, with the majority in the social and mid-range. And I am very pleased with that because these homes are much needed in Rotterdam.”

Faster start of housing construction in a large number of Rotterdam neighborhoods Projects from both housing associations and developers are eligible for the Start Construction Impulse. These include Alexanderpark Rotterdam (Prins Alexander), De Graaf (city center), De Sax (Kop van Zuid), Hartenruststraat (Oude Noorden), Hof van Maasdam Park (16Hoven), Klapwiek (Prins Alexander), Phase 1 Max Euwekwartier (Brainpark), Odeon (city center), Oost-Sidelinge (Overschie), Soetendaalseweg and Ruivendwarsstraat (Oude Noorden), Tamboer 2 Oost (Crooswijk), Timber (Dordtsestraatweg Rotterdam-Zuid), and Vlietpark phase 2 (Hoogvliet). On average, a financial contribution of €10,000 per home is provided.

Support for other housing projects Not all projects affected by deteriorating market conditions qualify for the government’s Start Construction Impulse. “We will engage in discussions with the initiators of these projects to see where we can help them so that they can also start building,” says Councilor Zeegers. The municipality utilizes the Rotterdam Start Construction Scheme, the Bottleneck Fund of the Province of South Holland, and the 6th tranche of the national Housing Construction Impulse. With these housing impulses, municipalities can accelerate the construction of new affordable homes. If a project can build a larger number of affordable homes than planned, additional funds are available from the municipal Continuation Fund.

Continuing construction Earlier this year, Rotterdam, along with market parties and housing associations, signed a Continuation Agreement, announcing the Rotterdam Start Construction Scheme. In addition to contributions from the government and the province, Rotterdam has reserved €10 million through its own Continuation Scheme to revive stalled affordable middle-income housing projects. By combining national, provincial, and municipal continuation schemes, Rotterdam can continue building affordable homes at a faster pace.

Starting within two years In the coming period, Rotterdam will assess which of the above-mentioned construction projects, as well as those not receiving government funds, qualify for a municipal contribution of up to €5,000 per home. These are projects in the middle segment that, without this contribution and due to the current economic headwinds in the construction sector, cannot start. The Rotterdam Start Construction Scheme includes a maximum of €10 million and is open until June 2025.

Dutch housing minister Hugo de Jonge has told the Volkskrant newspaper that foreign investors are welcome in the Netherlands and that new rent control rules will give them more security about the returns they will make on their investments here. 

The minister was commenting on the decision by two large foreign investors – Capreit and Heimstaden – to sell around 10,000 rental properties in the Netherlands. But both firms are selling their Dutch real estate to raise capital for other investments, not because of the expansion of rent controls, the minister told the paper.

The outgoing government is planning to expand the current rent control system to cover homes worth up to €1,100 a month, rather than €808 as at present, although the legislation has not yet become law. Many developers and investors say this means it will be no longer profitable to rent out homes and small investors in particular have already begun selling their property on the open market.   

Building new homes more profitable

“Most private landlords are doing just fine,” De Jonge said. “The new law on affordable housing will allow many of them to continue to charge the same level of rent. And building new homes will also be profitable. Next month I will make it clear how much extra landlords can charge for new property – it will be considerable.” Currently, landlords can charge an additional 5% rent for newly built property for a 10 year period.  

Landlords will also be able to charge more for homes with a high energy label because, De Jong said, making property more sustainable should be rewarded. Homes with outside space, such as balconies, will also have higher rents. 

Reliable government

“Foreign investors, come to the Netherlands,” De Jonge said. “It is a country with a reliable government and with high standards of morality when it comes to payments. We need a lot of investment to build 981,000 new homes, and that needs to come from the Netherlands and abroad. All reliable landlords and developers are very welcome, without compromising the necessary protection for tenants. 

De Jonge has also told MPs during a debate on the housing crisis that he will look into calls to set up some form of guarantee for new housing developments which would allow projects to go ahead, even if 70% of the properties had not yet been sold. 

He has also warned that the current transfer tax paid by investors of 10.4% is “really too high” when looked at from an international perspective. This is something that should be on the table during the negotiations to form a new government after the November general election, De Jonge told MPs. 

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Property developers and investors should start looking at the Netherlands’ housing crisis from the perspective of the people looking for homes, housing minister Hugo de Jonge told visitors to the Provada real estate trade fair earlier this month.
“Everyone knows someone who is unable to find a place to live,” De Jonge said at the opening of the 19th edition of the Amsterdam-based fair, where he met developers and investors and discussed his target to build 900,000 new homes.
The real estate industry has been highly critical of some of the measures the minister has proposed to stimulate the development of more affordable housing, such as setting quotas for different types of property in new developments.

Ambition
The 900,000 figure has not been plucked out of thin air “by an over-ambitious minister” but is based on the real needs of a growing population, De Jonge said.
Despite industry criticism, the decision to extend rent controls and boost the supply of affordable housing will not be abandoned, he said, despite admitting earlier in the month that the sector is going through a dip as new construction slows.
Asked by one delegate if he had to choose between 900,000 new homes and extending rent controls to more properties, De Jonge said: “Not a good question. We have to do both.”

Subsidies
The government is also doing more to help people starting on the housing ladder to buy a home, by introducing starter subsidies and other measures, he said.
In addition, the person looking to buy a home is being disadvantaged by the endless legal procedures before building work starts and this too needs to be tackled, De Jonge said. The minister has already announced plans to slash the number of times locals can take legal action against a development.
“We have to work together,” the minister said. “Government and industry are not on opposite sides… and we are facing a gigantic task.”

The Dutch government has signed agreements with six more of the country’s 12 provinces, outlining where new housing is to be built in the coming years.

Flevoland, Noord-Holland, Utrecht, Noord-Brabant, Limburg and Gelderland have joined the list of regions which have committed to facilitating new residential developments, as part of the government’s target of building 900,000 new homes by 2030.

The deal covering the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, for example, is for 171,000 new houses and apartments – or almost a fifth of the government’s total ambitions. In Utrecht, the deal is for 83,000 properties spread across the province.

Bottlenecks

The agreements highlight areas where large scale residential construction can be built in return for the government’s commitment to speed up the development process.

‘We are asking the government to fully commit to solving these bottlenecks, where the state has a role,’ said Haarlem housing chief Floor Rodune, who also chairs the MRA housing committee. ‘That be done by rule changes or by providing extra financial resources.’

Housing minister Hugo de Jonge has already pledged to remove the bottlenecks to housing construction such as restrictions relating to nitrogen-based pollution, mobility, the shortage of electricity grid capacity and local objections.

Problems

However, the construction trade economic institute EIB warned earlier in March that eight of the 12 provinces will have to speed up their residential development plans if the government is to meet its target of 100,000 new homes a year.

In particular, Zuid and Noord-Holland, Utrecht and Gelderland need to do more, the EIB said. The five big Holland Metropole cities are located in these four provinces.

By contrast, the more rural provinces actually built more houses than needed to meet government targets. This, the EIB said, maybe due to the pledge to ensure two-thirds of all new homes are classed as affordable – either rent controlled or owner-occupied.

It is more complicated and expensive to build affordable homes in the central urban belt of the Netherlands known as the Randstad, than in rural areas, the agency said.

Elections

The impact of the recent provincial elections on the government’s housing plans remains to be seen. Work has now started on forming 12 new provincial councils, all of which are likely to include new party BBB, which supports high rise developments in urban areas rather than in green belt land. The pro-farmer BBB was the big winner in the March 15 vote.

Dutch housing minister Hugo de Jonge has published draft legislation which gives central government more control over allocating building land and to force local authorities to act if they fail to reach agreements.

The new law also seeks to ensure two-thirds of new housing is classed as affordable – either rent controlled, mid-market rentals (up to around €1,100 per month) or for sale at affordable prices.

The proposal is one of a package of measures aimed at giving central government more say in residential property development, in an effort to ensure that 900,000 new homes are built by 2030, in line with the government’s plans.

‘For too long we thought that local decisions would automatically provide a solution to the housing shortage but that is not the case,’ De Jonge said. ‘That is why we must restore public housing and take back control. This legislation will make sure governments have the right tools to manage how much, where and for whom we build.’

Red tape

De Jonge has already published plans to speed up the construction of new housing, partly by limiting the right of appeal against new developments. It currently takes an average of 10 years from the start of the process to completion but this can be speeded up by removing red tape and combining processes, De Jonge said.

In particular the minister plans to limit the right of appeal against a building project to one legal layer. At the moment, locals who object to the plans can go to court several times in their efforts to stop a development.

De Jonge also says more phases in the development process – from planning, sorting the finances, research, consultation with locals and legal procedures – should take place concurrently. This, the minister said, can cut the development process before construction starts by years.

Fewer permits

Figures show that it is becoming more difficult to sell newly built housing and that the number of building permits handed out by local authorities has also gone down. Last year, permits for 60,000 houses were extended by the end of November, compared with 76,000 in 2021 as a whole.

Insurers have also reported a 20% drop in projects. Construction often only starts with 70% of a project is sold and this is leading to further delays or changes to number and type of home.

‘Based on what we know now, it looks as if we are going to end up with 50,000 to 60,000 new homes this year,’ Gerlof Muntinga, financial director of Woningborg, told the Financieele Dagblad earlier in February.

De Jonge has said he is prepared to consider some form of financial guarantee for construction companies if they start building sooner and has promised to come up with an analysis before the summer, the FD said.  However, any move using taxpayers’ cash will have to be cleared by Brussels to make sure it is not illegal state support.

Meanwhile, De Jonge has said he hopes the new legislation will become law at the beginning of 2024.

Over 74,000 new homes were completed in the Netherlands last year, the highest figure in 10 years, but still far below the government’s target of 100,000.

The number of completions was particularly high in Zuid-Holland province and in Amsterdam, according to new figures from national statistics agency CBS.

In Amsterdam, 6,800 new homes were added to the housing stock, taking the total up by 1.5% to 475,000. In the other big four cities, around 2,000 new homes were completed.

In Zuid-Holland, which includes the Holland Metropole partner cities of The Hague and Rotterdam, 14,500 new homes came on the market.

10% decline

The figures coincide with the publication of a new report by the construction industry’s economic institute EIB, which suggests up to 10% fewer houses will be built in the next two years, despite the government’s pledge to add 900,000 to the national housing stock by 2030.

In addition, the number of permits for new projects is also down, which will have an impact later in the decade.

In particular, the cost of building materials and high interest rates are having an impact on developers’ willingness to invest and legal requirements stemming from nitrogen-based pollution caused by construction are also slowing down processes, the institute said.

Nimby

In January, housing minister Hugo de Jonge published plans to make it quicker to build new housing, partly by limiting the right of appeal against new developments.

It currently takes an average of 10 years from the start of the process to completion but this can be speeded up by removing red tape and combining processes, De Jonge said.

‘We want to break through the ‘not in my backyard’ sentiment,’ he said. ‘We owe it to everyone looking for a place to live to do everything in our power to speed up housing construction.’

Dutch housing minister Hugo de Jonge has reached agreement with all 12 provincial councils on plans to develop new housing over the coming eight years, but developers have described the programme as ‘unrealistic’. 

In total, the Netherland’s 12 provinces have committed to building over 900,000 new homes, of which two-thirds will be classed as affordable, the minister told parliament earlier this month. ‘We are faced with the enormous task of building a total of 900,000 homes in the coming years,’ De Jonge said. ‘This requires a joint effort from governments, corporations and the private sector.’ 

Most of the new homes will be built in the provinces where the five big Holland Metropole cities are – Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven. Provincial and local councils will firm up the plans in localised agreements in the coming months, including ‘the specific locations, target groups, rental/purchase distribution and price categories,’ De Jonge said. ‘With this approach, we are taking back control of public housing.’

The government defines affordable housing as property with an official rental value of up to €1,000 per month or a purchase price below the national mortgage guarantee ceiling, which is currently €355,000. 

Investors have already warned that the government’s plan to regulate most of the rental market in the Netherlands will reduce rather than increase supply. And developers now say that the 900,000-home project will not achieve its aims without more involvement from the private sector either.  

Construction sector lobby group Bouwend Nederland said in a reaction that it had many questions about the De Jonge’s plan, pointing out that most of the planned developments are still up in the air, thanks to nitrogen and noise norms. 

‘It is a great ambition… but there are many hurdles to take to make it a reality,’ said director Fries Heinis. ‘Some of the plans are concrete in the short term… but the government must involve the private sector far more than it has done so far.’

 Dutch developers association Neprom described the plans as ‘unrealistic’, saying that the number of housing units is partly based on ‘plans for projects in which the housing will not be completed until well after 2030.’

Neprom chairwoman Desirée Uitzetter said that building homes is becoming increasingly expensive, partly due to the impact of the Ukraine crisis. The 900,000 figure, she said, is ‘not based on really concrete projects, but on ideas about projects.’

‘In our view the private sector has not been involved enough in making these projects concrete and achievable,’ she said. ‘That is where the pain is.’

Meanwhile, research by the construction sector’s economic institute Economisch Instituut van de Bouw suggests the housing crisis would be solved if every town or village added one or two streets of homes to its housing stock. 

Small scale projects in villages and towns have the potential to add 300,000 homes to the city’s housing stock, the EIB said in a new report. In Noord Holland province, for example, where 184,000 homes will be built under De Jonge’s programme, 200,000 additional homes could be built if every town added a street, the EIB said.

Many of the projects in De Jonge’s list are ‘large, complex inner city locations, which will first need infrastructure and area-based transformation,’ EIB director Taco van Hoek said. ‘It will take years to draw up the plans, realise the infrastructure, remove existing buildings, move industry and clean up the soil,’ he said.

Dutch housing minister Hugo de Jonge’s plans to reform the rental housing market include a new upper limit for placing rent controls on property at around €1,000 per month.

De Jonge said this spring that he would regulate the rents of more of the country’s housing stock in order to ‘reduce excesses’ in the market and that he was thinking of an upper limit of between €1,000 and €1,250.

At the moment, landlords have free choice in deciding the rent of property worth more than 143 points in the regulatory system. Points are awarded for amenities such as the number of bedrooms, whether or not the apartment has luxury bathroom fittings and the age of the property. 

The point total will now be increased to 187, which means nearly all rental property will be subject to some form of price control – as yet, it is not clear exactly how much. Just 9% of Dutch housing stock is currently available to rent to people earning more than €40,000 a year.

Criticism

News of the extension of rent controls was heavily criticized by developers and investors at the time – partly because of the lack of clarity and partly because it would make some developments unprofitable. 

Dutch real estate investors wrote to De Jonge warning that new home construction projects will slow drastically if he presses ahead with plans to regulate more rents. Without change, just 50,000 new homes will be built every year, rather than the 100,000 that the government is counting on, lobby group Neprom told the minister in July.

Higher wages and the cost of materials are also having an impact, with a 9% drop in the number of new rental properties coming on the market last year. 

Rents are rising

Figures published by rental housing platform Pararius in October show that rents in the non-rent controlled housing sector in the Netherlands have risen sharply in the five big cities, and properties are let more quickly. 

In Amsterdam, tenants with new contracts are paying 10.3% more than they did a year ago, with rents reaching €25.24 per square metre, or an average of €1,766 for a 70 square metre apartment. 

In Utrecht, new contract rents were up 6.5% to €20.33 per square metre – or €1420 for a 70 square metre flat. In Rotterdam, The Hague and Eindhoven, rents for new contracts now average between €17 and €18 per square metre, Pararius said.

Owner occupied sector

Meanwhile, figures from real estate agents’ association NVM indicate that the average house sold for 5.8% less in the last financial quarter than between April and June. The Q3 results are the first solid indication that the Dutch property market is taking a downturn, after years of strong growth. 

Rising interest rates in particular are reducing the amount would-be buyers can borrow. The government is also introducing tougher borrowing requirements for home buyers next year.  

De Jonge will publish his detailed plans for reforming the rental housing sector in November.

In total, 34 Dutch cities, companies and organisations make up the 2022 Holland Metropole delegation to Expo Real in October. Together, they are showcasing how Dutch developers, investors and local authorities are putting the circular economy, climate adaptation, sustainability and social cohesion high on their priority lists.

This summer’s drought and last year’s floods have brought home how important it is to tackle climate change and adapt urban environment to future needs – particularly in a low-lying country like the Netherlands.  And there is growing awareness throughout the country that the big problems facing it – carbon emissions, nitrogen-based pollution, water shortages and surpluses, the energy transition and a shortage of homes – are all connected in some way, and that working together is a key part in solving them.

Investor Bouwinvest, for example, is supporting the Red & Blue research project, a five year programme backed by the government, universities and private sector, which aims to establish ways to make the built environment climate adaptive. But the company is also active in its own right.

‘The  effects of climate change are part of our risk models, We include climate adaptation programmes in our portfolios and we have added these climate risks into our investment decision-making process,’ says CEO Mark Siezen.

The Holland Metropole alliance, first launched almost 10 years ago, aims to promote public private partnerships at a metropolitan regional level, making sure the issues facing urban areas are put on the agenda and that there is enough executive and investment power to make real change.

‘We are creating a city in which heavy rainfall does not damage our homes and roads, in which you can find a cool place to sit on hot days and in which greenery survives drought,’ says Rik Thijs, Eindhoven’s climate alderman.  ‘Climate adaptation is not just about technical solutions, but about making Eindhoven a better place to live and work.’

The Netherlands has drawn up a list of targets for reducing greenhouse gases and eradicating natural gas as a source for heating and cooking in homes. On a national basis, the government has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 49% in 2030 compared with 1990.

Developers and investors too are setting their own standards. Investor a.s.r. real estate works with strategic targets to ensure its portfolio is climate adaptive, taking four major climate risks into account: heat, flooding, drought and extreme weather

Ballast Nedam reduced the CO2 emissions of its owner occupier homes by an average of 69% last year, while Syntrus Achmea has cut the CO2 emissions of its residential portfolio by 40% compared with 1990. Others are working on innovative techniques.

‘As a family business we feel responsible for future generations, so we have opened a circular construction hub called Urban Miner. We focus on timber construction, invest in emission-free equipment and develop energy neutral buildings,’ said a spokesman for Dura Vermeer.

Architects bureau UNStudio, is developing new design strategies for adaptive reuse, transformation and extending building lifespan including smart, low-carbon and energy-producing building innovations.

Developers too are investing in new techniques and materials. While timber has now become the new standard, Ballast Nedam has branched further out and is using straw, a residual product from farming, as a construction material in its new ‘Nature Houses’ – with construction due to start in 2023. By using prefabricated straw panels, the company says it is able to build on a large scale and the resulting home is 95% biobased.

MRP has also turned to prefabrication. ‘We focus on modular building techniques and this means we can produce homes more efficiently and economically,’ said Bart Meijer CEO at MRP. ’This benefits both the planet and the consumer.’

To find out more about what the Holland Metropole partners are showcasing at Expo Real, visit A2.130.

The Netherlands needs to increase taxes on home owners and boost the private sector supply of new homes in order to get the housing market moving again, according to the chief economists from the three biggest Dutch banks, and two professors of finance policy.

Writing in economists journal ESB, the authors argue that the government’s current strategy is based on ‘papering over cracks’ rather than boosting access to the housing market, reducing inequality between tenants and home owners, and tackling prices.

In particular, the government should focus on expanding the supply of affordable housing which falls outside the rent-controlled sector – which has a ceiling of €763 per month – and which is not owned by housing corporations.

They also suggest that local authorities and their residents benefit more from new construction by introducing a tax on the increase in the value of the land which takes place when zoning plans are changed.

This tax, payable by developers, would allow municipalities to finance social goals – such as more social housing – more directly than by setting quotas in development projects. This, they say, will make it easier for municipalities and project developers to negotiate with each other about land availability and sales.

In addition, more housing should be encouraged in areas where prices have risen the most in the past few years, because this is an indicator of future demand.

At the same time, the economists say more should be done to make sure the current housing stock is used efficiently. In particular, various regulations which ban home sharing by more than two adults who are not related should be overhauled, because this can ease the shortage of places to live in the short term.

They also propose making building requirements more uniform, in order to speed up the construction process itself.

Some aspects of the government’s current strategy, such as the plan to regulate the rent of a much bigger proportion of the rental housing stock, is not without risk they argue. ‘It may improve affordability in the short term, but it will not tackle the structural shortfall in affordable rental housing,’ they state.

Another area of concern is the fact that home owners pay relatively little tax, which is why the Dutch are keen to put so much borrowed money into bricks and mortar, the economists say.

This could be partially tackled by treating property as an asset to be taxed when the home is sold. To stop people borrowing beyond their means, which is also putting up house prices, the official recommendations on borrowing – currently 100% of the value of the property – should not be expanded and could even be reduced. Energy costs should also be taken into account in determining how much people can borrow.

‘These reforms are a break with the past and that is why they should be introduced gradually,’ the economists say. ‘But they offer long-term advantages. Home owners and tenants will be treated more equally, house prices will become more stable and the tax on work and other income will come down, so that households can spend more on other things beside their living costs.’

The article was written by Ester Barendregt (Rabobank),  Marieke Blom (ING) and Sandra Phlippen (ABN Amro) together with Arnoud Boot, professor of Corporate Finance and Financial Markets at the University of Amsterdam and Dirk Schoenmaker, professor of Banking and Finance at Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

Developing climate proof property is the key issue for Holland Metropole partners at the Provada real estate conference in Amsterdam, which takes starts on June 14.  

With climate change becoming ever more acute, and the Dutch government unveiling new measures to boost the energy efficiency of the country’s housing stock, Holland Metropole members will be showcasing their commitment to tackling environmental problems during the three-day Provada real estate event.

The theme of this year’s Provada is ‘Act now for a better tomorrow’ with a particular focus on climate adaptation and circularity. Several Holland Metropole partners, including Dick Boelen, director of Dura Vermeer and BPD’s Desirée Uitzetter who is also head of Dutch developers’ association NEPROM, will be outlining their views on the big issues during the conference programme.

This year the Holland Metropole partners again have a particular focus on timber-based construction. ‘Climate change is the biggest challenge of our generation,’ says architects practice MVSA. ‘We believe we must take responsibility, and using wood, which is a sustainable construction material, helps us to do this.’

In the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, for example, developers, investors and local authorities last year signed a new Timber Green Deal, based on a real commitment to the use of wood.

‘Awareness has grown across everyone involved in the real estate and development sector that building with timber on a large scale is essential if we want to meet the terms of the Paris climate agreement and speed up the supply of housing,’ says Bob van der Zande, programme director Houtbouw MRA.

Timber based construction is environment friendly as well. Experts have calculated that if the one million new homes which the Dutch government wants to see built by 2030 are made primarily from wood rather than concrete, it would save 50 megatons of carbon dioxide emissions.

‘The built environment accounts for 40% of global carbon emissions. By using more natural construction materials instead of concrete and steel, and focusing more on circularity, the CO2 emissions driven by new construction can be minimized,’ points out Ingrid Hulshoff, portfolio manager real estate at investor Syntrus Achmea.

Existing property is also being brought up to new standards. Investor Bouwinvest, for example, has improved the energy label of the World Trade Centre in Rotterdam from E to A in three years and has made societal returns a key part of its performance targets.

In Rotterdam, built around a major river delta, the role of climate change and the transition towards green energy are central themes across all planning decisions.  In particular, city officials are looking upwards, to18 square kilometres of city roofs, which are being turned into gardens, water buffers and more.

This year, throughout June, intrepid visitors can even walk across a 600 metres rooftop walk built on scaffolding to find out more about what is being done. ‘We have almost 170,000 m² of solar panels; we have 360,000 m² of green on rooftops, but that’s still [just] 3% of the potential of that 18km² that we have,’ organiser Leon van Geest told DutchNews.nl. ‘We still have a lot of work to do.’

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The number of new rental properties added to Dutch housing stock fell 9% last year, when compared with 2020, as the mounting cost of workers and material lead developers to delay projects, ABN Amro said in a new analysis of the Netherlands’ housing market.

While most new rental homes were realised in Amsterdam, the total in the capital was just 2,965, and in Utrecht, only 676 new rental properties came on the market, the survey showed. In the Netherlands as a whole, almost 23,000 new rental properties were added to the supply side.

ABN Amro analyst Casper Wolf says there is a link between the situation in the five Holland Metropole cities and smaller urban conurbations, where the amount of new housing is increasing more rapidly.

‘Rijswijk, Zoeterwoude and Dordrecht all show considerable increases in the amount of new rental property,’ he said. ‘Nieuwegein has become the alternative for people who cannot afford Utrecht.’

Skilled workers

Developers, who have been faced with delays and cancelled projects because of efforts to reduce nitrogen-based pollution, are now counting other costs as well, Wolf said. It has become more difficult and expensive to find skilled workers, building material has become more expensive and land prices are also going up.

‘The price of land rose to a record €530 per square metre in the first months of 2022,’ Wolf said. ‘That is up 9.5% on a year ago.’

Government measures, such as the increase in the property transfer tax for investors, are also making developers more reluctant to take the plunge, Wolf said. ‘Government policies that intervene in the housing market plus renewed competition from Airbnb is making investing and renting out in the non rent-controlled sector less attractive, or sometimes even impossible.’

Ownership restrictions

Other measures to help local councils boost the supply of affordable homes are also having an impact. Local authorities are now allowed to designate new developments as ‘owner occupier only’ and Arnhem, for example, has introduced this for properties valued at up to €325,000 in 20 of its 24 residential areas.

Rotterdam has introduced similar regulations in 16 residential areas, with a limit of €355,000.

‘This measure is advantageous to first time buyers but is a problem for people looking to rent in the free sector because investors are staying away,’ Wolf said. Investors are no longer competing with private buyers for cheaper property but this is resulting in fewer rental properties for people who cannot get a mortgage but who earn too much to rent social housing, he said.

All this, says Wolf, means rental prices are likely to rise still further in the short term.

‘If the government’s ambitions to build 100,000 homes a year are achieved, this will probably reduce the pressure on the free sector in the longer term,’ he says.

Rental increases

Last year, landlords operating in the non rent-controlled sector agreed to limit rent rises to the rate of inflation from the previous year plus 1%. This means rents are likely to rise 3.3% this year but could be significantly higher in 2023, because of the current high rate of inflation, the ABN Amro report showed.

However, housing minister Hugo de Jonge said in April that this strategy could lead to problems for tenants, given the soaring rate of inflation, especially when coupled with higher energy bills.

Instead the minister plans to set a maximum increase for so-called free sector rents – properties which are more expensive than the €763 per month social housing sector limit. He already has this right for social housing.

The government has pledged to increase the number of properties for rent outside the social housing sector, particularly mid-market rentals of up to €1,000 per month. Currently, 57% of the Dutch housing stock is owner occupied, 33% is rent controlled and just 9% is available for higher earners who wish to rent.

The Dutch government’s chief architect has said that hundreds of thousands of new homes can be built in Dutch towns and cities by boosting the density of developments, rather than expanding into green belt land.

Francesco Veenstra told the Telegraaf in an interview that many urban areas still have land available and that developing brownfield sites will ‘also improve the living environment, and keep the local baker and butcher in business’.

The Dutch government has set a target of building one million new homes by 2030 and many of them will be built in large new residential developments outside city centres.

‘Of course you also have to build new neighbourhoods, but you can also build and renovate in existing urban environments,’ Veenstra told the paper. The architect will have a key role in advising housing minister Hugo de Jonge as he puts his plans into action.

Shrinking households

One reason for the current shortage of homes is the fact that households are shrinking, even though the population is expanding. ‘At the beginning of the last century the average household was made up of five people and at the moment it is 2.1,’ Veenstra points out. ‘This means that more than twice as many homes are needed for the same number of people and this is a problem that will only get worse.’

The 2008 financial crisis was another problem because many building firms went bust at that time and the construction of new residential property almost halved. Today, the shortage of workers is a major issue, and the government has said prefabrication is likely to have a role in solving the current crisis.

Veenstra said he is hopeful that the building process can be made faster. ‘But we need to act on a wide front,’ he said. ‘We need to produce many different types of homes, using quality prefabrication and good craftsmen. We must also repurpose existing real estate such as office buildings, old school buildings and factories.’

Infrastructure

The government advisor also warned about repeating the problems of earlier mass residential building programmes, in which the infrastructure was dealt with as an afterthought. ‘I believe in densification of city districts,’ he said. ‘Over the past fifteen years, we have been able to realize a quarter of a million homes without impacting on green areas. It is a process that we must continue, because there is still a lot of space in our cities and towns.’

The Netherlands, he said, is still far from full. ‘There is plenty of room, but it is just in different places to where people are looking now,’ he said. The border region around Delfzijl in Groningen and Maastricht or Vlissingen have plenty of opportunity for development, as long as the jobs and the transport infrastructure is there, Veenstra said.

‘If we make plans to build outside the main urban conurbations, we will have to make sure there are jobs,’ he said. ‘And we might also have to travel a little longer between home and work.’

The new Dutch government plans to build 100,000 new homes a year – taking the total by 2030 to around one million. But where does the figure come from? The NRC newspaper has been finding out.

The NRC says the ‘one million’ figure was first mentioned in 2017 by a Delft research bureau which has for years analysed the housing market on behalf of the government. It was later used by the Holland Metropole group as an alarm call, to alert ministers to the growing problems on the housing market and the need to develop a coordinated approach to the problem.

Despite the warnings from developers little changed, and ABF Research said again in late 2021 that 936,000 new homes would be needed by 2030. At the moment, the Netherlands needs 279,000 new homes to meet demand, ABF said. That figure is based on waiting lists, the number of young adults sharing homes, students living at home and people who in their 30s who have been forced to move back in with their parents.

The rest of the total is made up of homes that will be needed in the future. The CBS estimates that by the end of 2040, over 19 million people will live in the Netherlands, largely due to immigration. That will require 436,000 new homes, ABF said.

Households are also getting smaller. By 2035, the average household will have 2.07 people, half the size of a household in 1950, according to CBS forecasts. That growth too will require 243,000 new homes.

In addition, 118,000 homes will need to be replaced because they have been demolished.

Expectations

The one million ‘is not cast in concrete’, housing market professor Johan Conijn told the NRC. ‘It is based on expectations about the future which may not come true.’ Social geography professor Jan Latten told the paper that prognoses are crucial because of the length of time it takes to develop new residential areas in the Netherlands.

He points out that immigration has consistently been under-estimated and that construction has failed to keep up with the changes. This means, he said, that the one million estimate could well be on the low side.

Conijn said long waiting lists, first-time buyers and renters who cannot get a foot on the housing ladder, and the high rental and purchase prices are all evidence of the problems facing the housing market.

‘The shortage of housing can grow or shrink, but it is extremely dependent on demographic developments and people’s housing preferences,’ he said.

In total, permits to build 74,000 new homes were approved in the Netherlands last year, a rise of 10% on 2020 and the highest number in more than 10 years, according to the CBS.

The Holland Metropole alliance will be taking part in the MIPM real estate trade fair in Cannes from March 15 to 18, with a heavyweight delegation of top tier cities, developers and investors. Several leading Dutch architects’ bureaus and innovative start-ups are also part of the package – providing a complete cross section of the Dutch real estate sector.  

This year, the Holland Metropole focus is on climate change and timber-based construction and MIPIM visitors will be able to find out more about the cutting edge work by the 14 alliance partners at the stand (C19.E).

The Netherlands also has a new government, and MIPIM visitors can to catch up on the latest measures to boost the supply of affordable housing at a national level, and find out more about the implications of the plans for international developers and investors.

Climate

Last year’s floods in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium brought home just how important it is to tackle climate change and to deal with excess water caused by increasingly heavy rainfall. After all, with some 25% of the Netherlands below sea level, the country as a whole is vulnerable to the impact of rising sea levels and excess river water.

Across the Dutch real estate sector, climate change targets are becoming increasingly important and the themes of circular construction, carbon emission reduction and water management are at the forefront of the Holland Metropole approach, whether local authority, developer or investor.

Timber-based construction is also top of the to-do list of every climate-aware developer and real estate investor.

Timber

In the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, for example, developers, investors and local authorities have signed a new Timber Green Deal, based on a real commitment to the use of wood. 

‘Awareness has grown across everyone involved in the real estate and development sector that building with timber on a large scale is essential if we want to meet the terms of the Paris climate agreement and speed up the supply of housing,’ says Bob van der Zande, programme director Houtbouw MRA.

Timber based construction is environment friendly as well. Experts have calculated, for example, that if the one million new homes which the Netherlands will need by 2030 are made primarily from wood rather than concrete, it would save 50 megatons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Network

You can find out more about what Dutch cities and companies are doing in both these key areas by visiting the Holland Metropole stand.

As usual, the stand (C19.E) will also have a wide range of facilities on offer, from a bar and catering to charging points for mobiles and laptops, as well as plenty of room for networking and one-to-one meetings.

In total, permits to build 74,000 new homes were approved in the Netherlands last year, a rise of 10% on 2020 and the highest number in more than 10 years, according to the Dutch national statistics office CBS.

One third of the licences were given to build rental housing while the rest is made up of properties for sale – across all price ranges. Most new permits – 19,000 – were handed out in the province of Zuid Holland, which includes Holland Metropole partners Rotterdam and The Hague.

‘The number of permits is an indicator of the number of new homes which will be built in the coming years, but the average time to build after licencing is around two years,’ the CBS said. The total does not include new homes which are realised from repurposing other buildings, such as empty offices or schools.

Government plans

The figures were published just as new housing minister Hugo de Jonge outlined his plans to realise one million new homes over the next 10 years.

The minister told MPs earlier this month that he is currently working on a National Housing and Construction Agenda which will have six underlying themes: construction, housing for focus groups and the elderly, quality of life, sustainability, spatial planning and choices for the future.

‘This programmatic approach focuses more directly on concrete goals, monitoring and control so that the ministry can make sound agreements with everyone involved and to ensure everyone takes their fair share in solving public housing and planning issues,’ the minister told MPs.

Developers and investors have been calling on the government to take a more coordinating role in the provision of more residential housing for some time. De Jonge said earlier that he wants to speed up procedures and cut red tape. 

Coordination

The raw plan covering how the government intends to speed up construction will be presented in mid March, while in early April, the focus will be on housing for special groups such as the elderly and students. Later, attention will switch to affordable housing – both to buy and to rent – and the government is already committed to introducing more restrictions on private landlords. 

‘I want the government to take back control again with regard to this fundamental right to housing, as well as in the field of spatial planning,’ De Jonge said in a briefing to MPs.

The government’s role in recent years has become too small and for too long people have believed that the market would automatically provide a solution, he said. ‘It is all the more important to take control now because of the enormous shortage [of housing].’

Figures from the Dutch real estate agents’ association NVM show that the supply of housing in the Netherlands continues to shrink, with 23% fewer houses changing hands in the final quarter of 2021, when compared with the year-earlier period.

At the same time, the average price of an existing home rose almost 21% to €438,000 while for new builds, the increase was 14%, to €466,000. Some 80% sold for more than the asking price.

‘Homeowners are not putting their property up for sale without the prospect of finding another suitable one,’ NVM chairman Onno Hoes said. ‘The completion and realisation of new construction is stagnating… which is why we need to increase the volume of new construction quickly.’

According to NVM figures, just 8,800 new homes were put on the market in the final quarter of 2021, down 22% on 2020 and the lowest figure since 2013. Of them, 40% cost more than €500,000 and around one thousand more than €1m.

Consultation

Hoes called on new housing minister Hugo de Jonge to set up what he called a “Construction Stimulation Team” which would include a wide range of organisations from across the real estate and public sector, and which would support the minister constructively with advice and help accelerate the construction process.

The new cabinet has set a target of building 100,000 new homes every year in an effort to meet demand. ‘People have to be able to count on the security of having their own home,’ De Jonge said in a ministry video message.

Economists point out that even if the government’s plans are realized, new homes are not built overnight and there will be little impact in the short term.

Pensioners

Real estate agent Lana Gerssen, who heads the NVM’s residential section, said that certain groups are already being blamed for the current shortage of homes. ‘Pensioners are being told [they are a problem] because they do not want to move,’ she said. ‘But that is too easy. There are no homes on offer which are suitable for this group.’

Gerssen said there is a role for the real estate sector in solving this, by mapping supply and demand. ‘This will enable us to help local, regional and national government with their housing policy issues,’ she said.

Dutch developers’ association NEPROM has already welcomed the new government’s plans, saying the resources earmarked for housing will make it possible for the new minister to be effective, as long as he has a proper coordinating role across all the government departments involved in the process.

New Dutch housing minister Hugo de Jonge has described the challenge he faces to increase the number of affordable homes in the Netherlands as ‘considerable’ and says that there is no quick fix.

De Jonge, the first minister appointed to focus purely on the housing market in 10 years, told MPs during his first debate on the government’s plans that he intends to take a coordinating role in solving the problem.

‘For too long we have thought that the market can solve things,’ he said.

The new government has pledged to increase the housing stock in the Netherlands by one million units by 2030 and to take a number of other steps to boost the supply of more affordable rental and owner-occupier homes.

‘If we are convinced that the government should be more involved, then we have to have the instruments at our disposal to realise more housing,’ he said.

Red tape

First of all, the government plans to make it easier to actually build a house. It currently takes around seven years from start to finish, with planning and permissions taking an average of five. ‘We have to do something to speed up the procedures,’ De Jonge said.

Prefabrication and standardization will also have a role to play, he said. ‘It might sound boring, to have all the same sorts of houses, but that is no longer the case.’.

Research by construction sector lobby group Cobouw and the Follow The Money news platform suggests that many of the housing units scheduled to be built up to 2025 will never materialize because there is no uniform overview of which plans are realistic and which have not yet been approved.

Only 400,000 of the 1.2 million homes currently being planned are actually confirmed because of the different definitions used by local authorities, FTM said.

For example, in Noord Holland province, a project is considered to be ‘hard’ if the local authority votes in favour of the zoning plan. But in Overijssel, a project is only confirmed if the zoning plan has been declared to be final.

Coen van Rooyen, director of residential construction lobby group WoningbouwersNL told the regional paper De Stentor that all housing projects should be collected together in a single website.

‘Then you can see what plans there are, from those at the very early stage to completion,’ he said. ‘If nothing happens on a project for six months then an alarm should go off and the minister should be able to contact the local planning chief and find out what is going on.’