We are facing a housing crisis. Young people who want to leave home have nowhere to go. The elderly stay in their family home because they cannot move on to a suitable apartment. And then there is the housing of migrant workers. These are problems for which politicians must find a solution.
Party leaders Nico Heijmans (SP), Eric Ronnes (CDA), Anne Schipper (ChristenUnie-SGP), Eric de Bie (BVNL) and Henriëtte van Hedel (Alliantie) answered questions from people from Brabant on the subject of housing during the Voter Debate of Brabant in the 013 in Tilburg.
Leo Bisschops is chairman of the elderly organization KBO-Brabant. He fears that, if nothing is done, a care infarction will arise if seniors have to live at home for longer while there is not the care they need. How will the elderly live in the future?
Nico Heijmans of the SP answers his question:
Housing migrant workers
Roy van Gorkom, councilor for the local party Lijst Riel-Goirle talks about the discussion going on in Riel about the large-scale housing of migrant workers. That discussion is not so much about ‘for’ or ‘against’, but about the pressure on society. He wants to know what an acceptable number of labor migrants is in relation to the number of inhabitants of a village or core.
Erik Ronnes (CDA): “There has to be a balance, just like with asylum seekers’ centres. There must be consultation at the front, we must know what a village can handle.” He is also in favor of a more selective migration policy. “We should not stop everyone at the gate, but there must be limits.”
The public also asks where exactly the problem of housing for labor migrants comes from. “Municipalities and companies are pointing fingers at each other. The media points to the consumer. But isn’t it precisely the companies that came up with the revenue model of ‘ordered today, delivered tomorrow’?”
According to Eric de Bie (BVNL), this problem does indeed lie with society. “It wouldn’t be called a revenue model if nothing could be earned from it. If society no longer asks for it, it will disappear on its own.” He does acknowledge that the housing market is under pressure, partly due to labor migration. De Bie wants to let go of rules to solve the housing shortage, because according to him they are precisely the cause of this crisis.
Homes for young people and crooked living
Summa student Estelle Lanen wants to know what will happen to ensure that enough housing is available for her generation.
Henriëtte van Hedel (Alliance) does not get any further than pointing out migration as the cause of the problem. “We cannot handle all those people, because in addition to a house, they also need everything in terms of facilities.” She also believes that schools should stop attracting foreign students.
Jelle Moordgat, a student at the Start-up School in Eindhoven, wonders how skewed living in social housing should be tackled.
On behalf of ChristenUnie-SGP, Anne Schipper says that this is a real problem. “The state of the entire housing market is the cause, because people will not move if there is no supply. And are the homes that do exist going to the right people?” If it were up to him, it would start with the advancement of the elderly, ‘because when they move up, there will be movement in the housing market’.
In the videos below you can see the answers politicians gave on the theme of housing.
Are we going to take into account how many migrant workers the villages can handle?
Should we counter distribution centers?
How do we provide enough homes for young people?
What do we do against crooked living?
You can see a summary of the Voters’ Debate of Brabant on Omroep Brabant television on Saturday 11 March. The recap starts at 5:45 PM and is repeated at 7:45 PM, 9:45 PM, and 11:45 PM.
