Acceleration of housing construction in the Netherlands due to increased needs
The war in Ukraine and the increase in migrants coming to the Netherlands have made the need for more housing more pressing, Housing and Spatial Planning Minister Hugo De Jong wrote in an action plan sent to the House of Representatives on Thursday. The housing program aims to create 900,000 homes by 2030. Back in 2020, the NL Times reported that 845,000 homes need to be built by 2030 to meet market demand.
“We are faced with persistently high construction prices, limited material availability, uncertainty around issues such as the nitrogen issue, rising interest rates and a tight labor market,” De Jong wrote. Improving efficiency during the planning phase of projects, additional resources for municipalities and provinces and boosting industrial innovation are among the measures included in the action plan sent by De Jong to the House of Representatives.
“Building a house, from design to completion, takes an average of ten years. This should and can be shorter.” With an emphasis on shortening the time between design and construction, de Jong’s plan proposes exploring best practices through pilot projects, with a view to later scaling them up through collaboration with regional authorities, housing associations, market parties and the judiciary authorities. In addition, €90 million will be allocated to new staff at municipal and provincial level in an effort to strengthen administrative capacity, further standardization of building requirements is planned to reduce time and cost, and complaints and appeals processes will be brought together in one body .
The action plan hopes to combat the housing shortage plaguing the country, “we owe it to all housing seekers to do everything in our power to accelerate housing construction,” De Jong said.
SOURCE: euractiv.gr