To accelerate housing construction, twelve industry associations around housing came up with initiatives today and asked politicians to strongly support them. During the national Woontop on Feb. 29 in The Hague, they called for the great housing shortage to be tackled jointly with greater urgency, for which, according to them, at least three billion euros are needed from the central government.
"The Netherlands is facing a housing crisis," the 12 parties write in a manifesto. To make up for the enormous housing shortage, it is necessary to build at least 100,000 new homes every year. So say provinces, municipalities, corporations, builders, developers, investors, brokers and consumer organizations involved in housing. The 12 parties have made mutual agreements on how to achieve that goal more quickly.
For more and more people, housing has become unaffordable or unattainable. There are not enough affordable homes that fit the life stage of the housing seeker, such as starters, seniors and those in need of care. This is partly due to sharply increased construction costs, interest rates and government policies, but also because too many housing plans are not coming to fruition due to unfulfilled preconditions and a deteriorated investment climate.
Interest of housing seekers
Martin van Rijn, chairman Aedes: "A lot of delays occur in the planning process. We need to combine the forces of market parties, corporations and governments. No more waiting for each other, but get to work simultaneously and, in municipalities, involve residents in the plans at an early stage." To reduce delays in housing plans due to objection procedures, the parties advocate amending legislation, strengthening the capacity of the Council of State and giving more weight to the interests of house seekers.
Practical and financial government support
The parties want to match the social demand to realize one-third of the 100,000 housing units in the social sector and one-third for middle-income earners. According to them, this is only possible if the state makes an annual financial contribution of three to five billion euros.
Tobias Verhoeven, NEPROM board member and director of developer Synchroon: "Those funds are also needed to build infrastructure to the new residential areas, for investments in nature and in climate-adaptive measures in and near the new residential areas. We therefore urgently appeal to the State to fulfill the necessary preconditions, because without practical and financial support in the short, medium and long term it is not possible to realize the required numbers of homes in the desired quality."
Building faster and cheaper
The parties have agreed to promote industrial housing construction and to unify requirements for new construction, because this is the only way to build faster, cheaper and, above all, more sustainable. The parties emphasize that this is the only way to create varied and pleasant residential areas. Industrial housing can be a flywheel. Especially if governments standardize their requirements for new and affordable housing at the national level. In this way, innovation and technological renewal in the sector can be stimulated, so that housing construction can meet the highest standards of sustainability more quickly.
Monitor progress
The parties have agreed to work with the national government to develop a monitoring system that will provide insight into what needs to be built where and accurately monitor the progress of every housing plan in the Netherlands. Alderman Hein de Haan on behalf of VNG's Committee on Space, Housing and Mobility: "Provinces, municipalities, corporations and developers are going to combine their data. With the help of this system, delays become visible earlier and obstacles can be identified and resolved faster."
Signatories Housing Implementation Agenda.
The partners of the Housing Implementation Agenda are committed to jointly go to the extreme. They put aside their own interests to accelerate to 100,000 houses per year so that a suitable place to live for all Dutch people becomes a matter of course. They urge the State to cooperate with them and make structural financial resources available. The Housing Implementation Agenda was signed by Aedes, Bouwend Nederland, G40, IPO, IVBN, NEPROM, NVM, VNG, Vereniging Eigen Huis, Vastgoed Belang, WoningBouwersNL and the Woonbond.
