The Netherlands is crying out for houses. But housing construction is stalling. ‘Screaming crazy’, director Sipke Meindertsma of secondment agency Bouwselect sometimes says. He wants choices: less participation and building in the air. “We are addicted to space.”
When presenting its annual figures, builder BAM recently said it saw signs of recovery in the housing market. Do you see that too?
Sipke Meindertsma: “No. I don’t see any signs of recovery. At Bouwselect we couldn’t find the people just over a year ago. We now receive eighty applications a week, especially in the Randstad. There is less demand for labor. Why? Because less is being built.”
How sick is the patient?
“The patient is quite ill. It has completely turned around. Last year we really had to call people to ask if they wanted to work. Now that dynamic is very different. You might say that the situation seems better due to rising salaries and falling interest rates. This means there is more borrowing capacity, but it does not solve the problem. At best, purchasing a home will become slightly more accessible.”
Passport
Name Sipke Meindertsma
Born 26-07-1967 in Vrouwenparochie
Course MAVO, HAVO, VWO, HBO, university study Andragogy
Work founder Bouwprofs, a nationally operating secondment agency in construction (including Bouwselect and Bouwpartners)
Private e : d three children in total, two of which with current partner; hobbies: skating, cycling (r oath seventeen times Alternative Eleven Cities Tour on the Weissensee) kite surfing and water polo
Construction pros one of the largest temporary employment agencies in construction in the Netherlands, turnover 27 million euros (2023), based in Groningen, Leeuwarden, Apeldoorn, Rotterdam and Amsterdam
What’s going wrong?
“I’ll hit him flat. Suppose you build a social rental home that yields 900 euros in rent per month. That is 10,800 euros per year. You do that times an initial yield of 10 percent. You arrive at 108,000 euros. That may cost a house. Just try building a ground-level home for 108,000 euros. That is not possible. Then you start building and renting it out at a loss. Nobody does that. No, not even a housing association. He may be social, but ultimately he also has to write black marks. Guys, it’s not a freebie show.”
This makes it seem as if the matter is stuck.
“Yes, and you won’t hear me say it’s easy, but it can be solved. Then you have to approach it differently. Then you will have to let go of the idea of ground-level homes. No longer a 120 square meter house with a small garden. We are addicted to space.”
So into the air?
“Yes, build at height. Then you can build a lot faster. We have factories that build ready-made homes that can be placed on site. That’s also cleaner. And cheaper. Building at height offers numerous advantages.”
In any case, it takes up less space.
“When I hear Minister Hugo de Jonge say that we can fully build up the area between Assen and Groningen, my toes cringe. I then think: yes, but dear, why? Because it’s cheaper? Well, I dare to doubt that.’ On top of that, you are completely sacrificing our landscape to housing construction. By the way, I don’t want to blame Hugo de Jonge for the stagnation of the housing market. This is mainly the result of our polder model, wanting to keep everyone on friendly terms and pushing decisions forward. In a country with endless participation, the citizen is indirectly just as guilty of the current situation.”
In the Algemeen Dagblad Chairman Arno Vissers of Bouwend Nederland hoisted the storm ball a month ago. Construction in the Netherlands comes to a complete standstill when governments start imposing different requirements, he said.
In Groningen, for example, the construction of the Eemstoren has been discussed for years. Construction company Van Wijnen wants to build 77 homes near the Tasman Tower. Homes that come from the factory in Heerenveen. Housing association Lefier will rent out the houses.
It was hoped that construction could start in 2022. This week, a Lefier spokeswoman confirmed that construction is not yet underway.
Is this exemplary?
“In any case, this is a project that can start tomorrow. You can build here for 108,000 euros. But it doesn’t happen. Why not, I wonder. And what do we want? It’s one or the other.”
Infill or high-rise buildings in the built environment. That is a better solution than an additional street in every village?
,,Yes. I also understand that high-rise buildings or top-ups are not the most pleasant choices. But again we have people who are eager for a home, young people who have lived with their parents for far too long. We have to do something and in my opinion it is better to go higher than to fill the meadows between Assen and Groningen.”
Are there enough places in the cities and villages to build?
,,Fed up. 100 percent sure. A few years ago, KAW Architecten conducted research into space to build in cities. They effortlessly reached 60,000 to 80,000 locations where construction could take place. There’s plenty of room.
It is also imaginable that not everyone wants such a residential tower in their backyard?
“Yes, the citizen has a lot of influence. And all that participation is not going to solve the problem.
Less influence for citizens?
“Among other things, yes. Today’s House of Representatives is an example of what not to do. And that is also the influence of the citizen. Parties that are quite populist are now large. I don’t mean that negatively. But these parties only go along with what the citizen wants. Then you really don’t solve anything.”
How far should the citizen disappear from the process?
“Pfff. My first reaction would be to leave it to a municipal council. He has to make decisions and if he says ‘go’ then it must be ‘go’.”
And then you get that residential tower next to your house.
“I wouldn’t have a problem with it. What if the sun disappears from my garden? I would find that difficult, but then I would make the choice to move. And that is possible if there are enough homes in all price ranges. Then you can also reclaim planning damage.”
It is the result of the choices that are necessary?
,,Yes. We have to do something. Poldering is really no longer possible. It’s time to choose and stick to that choice. We should not reverse this later.”
If not?
“It gets stuck. Really stuck. We have factories that can deliver hundreds of homes, but they are running at half capacity, while so many people need homes. Governments cannot continue without choosing indefinitely. Then the pimple becomes so big that it bursts.”
Hasn’t the pimple already popped?
“Not yet in the sense that people are rebelling, but I do believe it will happen. People want a house and if that doesn’t work out, they start squatting. You’ve seen that before. Our own office is in the Reitdiep zone in Groningen. High-rise buildings have been built there, which was already a major undertaking. And there is more to come. But then the former welfare department comes along and thinks something about it too. Then, voila, everything stops for another year. I then think: ‘Municipality, let’s push through this now’. No pain, no gain . The municipality is now starting to take that pain.”
So the citizen must also do that?
,,Yes. Just swallow it once. Otherwise you run the risk of ruining the living environment in the Northern Netherlands to such an extent that your children will soon ask: ‘Dad, what does a cow look like?’ Is that what we want?”
Panic?
“No, I’m not panicking. I will give a warning: we are really heading for a crisis. We are in a vicious circle that we need to break, but we haven’t even started yet. And more is likely to go wrong. A year ago I had 500 people working, now about 400. People leave construction when there is no more work. They go do something else and don’t come back. You won’t be able to build again because you no longer have the people. And then? Migrant workers? That is not possible, because there are no houses for these people. Yes, when I think about that, I start to go crazy.”