Rotterdam city council has drawn up new plans for a 30,000 home expansion on the eastern side of the city which officials say will make inroads into the current housing shortage.

The strategy to redevelop an area stretching between the Prins Alexanderplein and Zuidplein has been made possible by the decision to build a new bridge and fast tram service over the river Maas. Good public transport connections are an essential part of Rotterdam’s expansion policy.

The Oostflank development will also include shops, health centres, schools, sports parks and plenty of greenery. City housing chief Chantal Zeegers says that the project will help an ‘awful lot’ of people looking for a home. ‘But that is not the only aim the city administration has,’ she said. ‘It is also about having a pleasant place to live.’

Most of the residential development will take place on brownfield sites around four existing public transport links – Rotterdam Alexander, metro station Kralingse Zoom, the yet to be build station Stadionpark and the Zuidplein metro station close to Hart van Zuid.

Several existing residential areas, including Het Lage Land, Prinsenland, De Esch, Bloemhof and Hillesluis will also be expanded and renovated. In addition, the plan includes two new residential neighbourhoods, both of which will have plenty of room for water and trees.

“Building homes cannot take place without incorporating other functions and this is why the city is investing in creating parks and gardens as well,” said outdoor planning alderman Vincent Karremans.  Several sports clubs and three allotment complexes will have to move when building work starts but all will be found new locations in the same area.

The plans are currently out to public consultation and everyone is being invited to have their say. After the summer, the city council will take a definite decision about the new zoning plan. 

Read the details (in Dutch)

‘Meeting housing targets is a challenge’

Kasja Ollongren, minister

The main challenge facing the property sector in the Netherlands is to ensure everyone can live a pleasant and comfortable life in rented or owner-occupied accommodation, Dutch home affairs minister Kasja Ollongren said at the presentation of the government’s budget for 2020 in September.

The plans include setting up a €1bn fund to help the six big city local authorities speed up housing construction by preparing more land for building and so meet the target of 75,000 new homes a year. A further €50m has been allocated to develop a clean air agreement with local and provincial governments

‘Not only must we build more houses more quickly due to the housing shortage, but we must also guarantee affordable, sustainable homes now and in the future, often in locations where space is already at a premium,’ the minister told Holland Metropole Magazine in an interview.

Challenge

At the same time, however, the Netherlands also faces the challenge of implementing a huge energy transition in the framework of climate change, which, the minister points out, will have a major impact on the housing market. In particular this involves phasing out the use of gas for heating and cooking in private homes.

In other words, not only must we give priority to house building but also to making existing homes more sustainable,’ the minister says.

 ‘The eventual outcome must be a sector that is even more resilient, in which corporations and developers, builders and the housing authorities work together in harmony in a housing market with fewer excesses and in which eventually everyone lives in a sustainable manner.’

In order to achieve this, the minister argues, it is very important that the public and private sectors work together. ‘Only by working together can we face up to the challenges facing the housing market. There is a clear role for investors, builders, municipal authorities and myself.’

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