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.