If the province of South Holland does not comply with the national housing policy drawn up by outgoing Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Housing, CDA), the minister may force the provincial government to do so administratively. This message, which De Jonge conveyed to the provincial government of South Holland on Thursday, further intensifies the conflict between the province and the minister. GroenLinks-PvdA, the largest faction in the Provincial Council, speaks of a “remarkable letter” and calls the content “completely unacceptable and undemocratic”.
The South Holland provincial government has been at loggerheads with De Jonge for a few months over housing policy. With more than 235,000 homes up to and including 2030, South Holland has the largest housing construction challenge of all provinces. The province and minister agree on the main points: more homes must be built, and especially affordable ones. The way is where things go wrong.
Emergency call
De Jonge would like to see the same housing policy in every province, but South Holland in particular is choosing its own course. For example, the province is at odds when it comes to how many of the new homes to be built should be social housing. While De Jonge is aiming for 30 percent social rent nationally – with a rent of up to 880 euros – the South Holland parties agreed that 40 percent of new homes should be social. “Based on income, more than half of the residents of our province should be eligible for social housing. So that 30 percent is simply too little for us,” says Member of Parliament Tijmen Lamers of GroenLinks-PvdA. “With this condition we can also encourage municipalities that have lagged behind in social housing in recent years to do more.”
According to De Jonge, South Holland’s course will compromise affordability and construction will come to a standstill. After all, project developers make less profit on social housing, and if they cannot complete their project budget, nothing will be built at all. Lamers thinks this is a political argument, mainly motivated by project developers. “There are plenty of cities in South Holland where 35 percent or more social construction is possible. The minister simply has a slightly different view than us, politically.”
Another point of contention is the different definition that South Holland uses for what exactly an ‘affordable’ owner-occupied home is. Not De Jonge’s 390,000, but 355,000 euros as the maximum amount. The province also refuses to make construction sites larger than 3 hectares available to municipalities – with the exception of Sliedrecht-Noord and the Gnephoek near Alphen aan den Rijn. Eighteen smaller municipalities made an emergency call at the beginning of this year: they did not want an “additional street” but an “additional neighbourhood”.
Deputy Anne Koning (PvdA) stands her ground; the provincial government – including VVD, BBB and CDA – does not want to continue to invade nature and agricultural land. De Jonge states that the province’s position is slowing down construction instead of accelerating it. “Undesirable in these times of housing shortage,” the minister concludes. A conversation between De Jonge and Deputy Koning could not resolve the friction. The minister now wants to talk to the entire council.
Management of public housing
On Thursday, De Jonge alluded to the situation in South Holland during the presentation of the long-awaited bill that should give the government back control over public housing. Under the new law, all housing agreements between the government, provinces and municipalities will come together in their own public housing program. This sets out how much, where and for whom construction will take place. The government is leading in this regard, provinces and municipalities must follow. If they do not do so, the minister will soon have more legal options to intervene.
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Under the new Environmental Act, the minister can now force the provincial government with such a “legal instruction” to overrule provincial legislation when it comes to matters of national importance. In the conclusion of his letter to the provincial government, De Jonge writes that he should not shy away from “the use of legal instruments” if administrative consultations with South Holland do not yield any results. In short: if South Holland does not change its policy course in line with national policy, De Jonge wants to force the provincial government to do so.
“An administrative remedy,” states Member of Parliament Lamers. “As a province, we are responsible for our spatial planning policy and have been given more powers for this since the introduction of the Environmental Act. It is not appropriate for an outgoing minister to further restrict the authority of a missionary provincial government.”
Correction (March 8, 2024): an earlier version of this article stated that in South Holland, 40 percent social rent was sent per construction project. This should be: a total of 40 percent and has been adjusted above.