Sign the first regional real estate offers, questions about feasibility

Municipalities, housing societies, provinces and of course Minister De Jonge for housing and land use planning; all signed the first regional housing agreements today. These are the effects of the housing agreements signed in October.

Over the next eight years, 42,300 houses will have to be built in Overijssel, 13,631 in Drenthe. The plans describe exactly where the houses should be located and who will execute the plans. This is the case in all provinces more than 900,000 homes.

Minister De Jonge has many wishes; for example, two thirds of the homes must be ‘affordable’ (up to 355,000 euros). He wants at least 30 percent of all houses in each municipality to be made up of social income and of the more than 900,000 houses, just under 300,000 be suitable for the elderly.

There are – partly at the behest of the minister – many doubts about the feasibility of the plans. For example, in many regions there are not enough construction sites available, the prices of building materials have risen sharply after the war in Ukraine, there is a severe shortage of personnel in the construction sector and some construction projects cannot (due to the moment) be made canceled due to nitrogen problem. When a building site is too close to a nature reserve, this can be a reason for judges to put a line across the building plans.

We previously made this video about problems in construction:

To achieve the ambitions, more than 100,000 homes must be built every year up to and including 2030. The number of new homes has increased over the past decade never exceed 72,000. Only 69,000 newly built small houses will be completed in 2021.

Bouwend Nederland recently pointed out that many provincial building plans are still very uncertain. For example, according to the Drenthe building trade association, only one floor out of three is “difficult”. “These are often theoretical, preliminary plans, surrounded by uncertainties”, says Bouwend Nederland. The sector organization also stresses that investments must also be made, for example, in access roads to new residential complexes and in upgrading the energy grid.

Minister De Jonge acknowledges that many construction projects have not yet taken off. “The provinces really want to, but they have to deal with all kinds of interests,” he said last week News time. Municipalities or local residents often have objections or environmental regulations get in the way. That is why De Jonge wants to introduce a law next year with which he can oblige municipalities and provinces to build in certain localities. The minister sees the law as a means to firmly take control.

Previous cabinets let the market do the work and encouraged major investors to invest heavily in it. De Jonge wants to regain control. “Today’s scarcity is asking for a direction, and I want to take that direction,” the minister said when he took office.

In one of the provinces where the agreement was signed today, Overijssel, the atmosphere is moderately positive. The goal is to build 42,300 homes in the province by 2030. “An important starting point is that these are affordable homes. The chosen direction has been discussed with market parties and seems feasible under the current circumstances,” he said the province in a press release.

In the coming months, De Jonge wants to conclude agreements with the other ten provinces on how the construction plans will be implemented.