“Minister De Jonge’s Flexible Housing Plan Faces Objections and Appeals”

A third of the more than 2,000 ready-to-use homes that Minister De Jonge has ordered to solve the most acute housing shortage have either not yet been built or are gathering dust in storage. Not every municipality wants them, according to one letter to the House of Representatives.

The flex homes often encounter “not in my backyard-behavior,” says the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning in conversation with the NOS. “There is a lot of objection and appeals.”

Nevertheless, De Jonge does not want to be discouraged from finding a place for people who urgently need a home: “Finding a location for flexible housing is always more difficult than you think. But we have no choice. The need is so great. recover and this is the fastest way. I say to neighborhoods where the angry neighbor wants to climb into the pen: never make the right to a view more important than the right to a home.”

According to De Jonge, many home seekers are “clapping” for a house, even if they can only stay there temporarily. “People on the waiting list for social housing, people who are getting divorced, status holders, Ukrainians. They are for everyone who needs a roof over their head quickly. That’s why I say to all objectors: accept that you yourself must urgently need a home.”

The construction of flexible homes often meets with resistance from local residents, Nieuwsuur discovered last year:

The minister is supported by deputy Rob van Muilekom of the province of Utrecht. In December, he made agreements with municipalities to build 1,500 flexible homes in his province, but has noticed in practice that this is not easy everywhere. “Things are being realized, such as in Bunnik. But you also see resistance where a municipality withdraws locations due to tensions in the city council.”

Van Muilekom speaks of a “special phenomenon” in the housing market: “Everyone wants more homes to be added, but not in their own area. People mainly dig their heels in when they are surprised, for example about who is coming to live there. But it are ordinary home seekers, such as people who are on a long waiting list for affordable rental housing.”

In the plan of Minister De Jonge, 37,500 flexible homes must be built in the country by the end of next year. If necessary, these could be relocated elsewhere after a few years, so that, for example, permanent homes could be built on the first location. The minister reserved 300 million euros for the entire project and ordered more than 2,000 flex homes himself.

Of the 37,500 planned ready-made houses, only 3,400 have been placed this year. Of the 2000 flexible homes that the government itself ordered, 700 have not yet been built or are in storage waiting for a destination.

According to De Jonge, the temporary homes are necessary because new construction takes too long. Because more and more buyers are backing down due to the increased mortgage interest, project developers have taken at least 4,694 owner-occupied homes from sale in a year’s time, according to figures from real estate association NVM and data company Brainbay.

The minister does acknowledge that his plan to first buy flexible housing and then look for locations is unusual. “But if municipalities first choose a location, issue a permit and then order the flexible homes to be built, then you will be busy for one or two years.”

There is no such time, says De Jonge. “That is why I have already given orders to factories so that they can get to work. Finding locations is more difficult due to practical hassle. Due to objections and appeals, or because the houses do not fit on the foundation that is there. In Delft it was fixed in a few months So it’s possible.”