News item | 29-01-2026 | 1:00 PM
Measures are necessary to ensure that housing associations can maintain the ambitions for new construction, maintenance and sustainability of social housing. Due to increased maintenance costs and higher interest rates, the corporations are €19.4 billion short of the agreed investments in the National Performance Agreements (NPA) of a total of €110 billion up to and including 2034, according to a new calculation. Without measures, the corporations cannot achieve these goals.
The aim is, among other things, to build 30,000 new social rental homes per year from 2029 and to take sustainability measures in 1.1 million homes by 2034. It is up to the new cabinet to increase the investment space of corporations in the short term in order to achieve the NPA or to take other measures, Minister Mona Keijzer of Housing and Spatial Planning (VRO) wrote to the House of Representatives.
Options for this include increasing income, reducing expenditure, for example through tax measures or reducing the task. In all cases, attention is also needed for the subsequent period, from 2035, to structurally strengthen the system financially. The minister is preparing an independent study into a sustainable, future revenue model for corporations, so that they continue to have the financial strength to build and maintain sufficient social rental housing even after the end of the NPA in 2035.
National Performance Agreements
The government, housing associations and municipalities agreed at the Housing Summit at the end of 2024 to build 30,000 new social rental homes annually from 2029. The ambition is to achieve this by 2027. They also focus on responsible rent increases, making homes more sustainable and liveable neighborhoods. The agreements apply from 2025 to 2035.
State of the Corporation Sector 2026
Corporations make a significant contribution to reducing the housing shortage, according to the State of the Corporation Sector 2026, which the Housing Corporation Authority (Aw) presented to the minister this week. Nearly 23,000 new-build homes will be completed by 2024. By 2025, this is expected to involve around 25,000 new homes. To continue this upward trend, according to the Aw, in addition to sufficient financial resources, corporations also need sufficient construction locations. The Public Housing Reinforcement Management Act, with an intended effective date of July 1, 2026, can help with this. The law requires that 30% of new construction must consist of social rental housing. Municipalities must designate locations for this.
Affordability for tenants of social housing units has improved in recent years. In the coming years, it is expected that cost increases at corporations will be higher than inflation. This results in higher expenses and therefore less room to invest. A bill with a new system for rent increases should ensure a more stable rental policy, with a good balance between affordability for tenants and sufficient income for corporations. It is up to the new cabinet to develop this further.
Corporations work intensively together to maintain and make their homes more sustainable. For example, only 5.5% of the housing stock has a low energy label. This is expected to be approximately 0.13% in 2029. According to the Aw, more money is also needed for this purpose.
