An alliance of 17 organisations and companies, including Holland Metropole cities, developers and investors, have joined forces to keep up the pressure on the Dutch government to take urgent action to boost the supply of housing.

They say the Netherlands needs to build at least 90,000 new homes a year up to 2030 to catch up on the enormous shortage of residential property – which some estimate to be currently around 330,000 units.

In particular the alliance wants the government to free up billions of euros to help realise the target, some of which would be spent on preparing new land for development and some of which would go on readying brownfield sites.

‘Local authorities and developers do not have enough money to make such large financial commitments in advance and we are asking the state to help them with plans and guarantees so investors know where they are in the coming 10 to 15 years,’ Desiree Uitzetter, of Holland Metropole partner BPD and developers’ lobby group Neprom, told the Telegraaf.

At the same time, the alliance says new residential developments should be an example of how to build energy neutral and climate proof housing, and that good public transport and bike infrastructure are crucial. At least 50% of the new homes, they say, should be allocated to people on low or average incomes.

Earlier this month, the home affairs ministry published its own vision on the future of residential construction, saying that the Netherlands needs 845,000 new homes in the coming 10 years.