A group of people - including representatives from the housing and insurance sectors - have presented a plan which will allow for one million new homes to be built in the Netherlands over the coming 10 years. 

Building more affordable and sustainable housing in the Netherlands

A group of 34 organisations, including representatives from municipalities and provinces across the Netherlands and the banking and mental health care sectors, are calling on the next cabinet to ensure more affordable housing is built, in order to combat the national housing crisis. 

According to the plan, the Netherlands is now short of over 330.000 homes: “An entire generation is in danger of losing connection to the housing market,” they argue. The Housing Action Agenda therefore calls for construction pace to be increased from 71.000 to 100.000 houses per year “so that more affordable rental and owner-occupied homes become available.”

Providing housing for all and combating price increase

The plan also highlights the fact that quality of life in various neighbourhoods across the country is declining, and the groups would like to see an improvement in sustainable infrastructure and quality housing for all: “We are concerned about vulnerable neighbourhoods and residents who sometimes need other forms of help and care than that which is available to them,” said Martin van Rijn, chairman of housing corporation lobby group Aedes.

In order to provide housing for all, the plan suggests that one-third of the new homes should be social housing, another third should be in the so-called middle sector, and a third should be in the free sector, and the houses built will be comprised of both rental and sale properties. 

In addition to this, the Housing Action Agenda includes plans for making and keeping housing affordable; for example, by limiting rent increases in the middle sector to 1 percent above inflation.

Dutch government invests over 260 million in affordable housing

This week, the Dutch government announced it was investing 266 million euros in accelerating the construction of mostly affordable homes. The investment will support 30 development projects across the country - three of which are in The Hague -  and will see nearly 45.000 new homes built by 2023 at the latest. 

The plan is that 67 percent of the builds will be considered affordable housing - a mix of social housing, housing with a monthly rent of between 700 and 1.000 euros, and homes with a purchase price below the limit for the national mortgage guarantee (325.000 euros in 2021).