News item | 23-06-2022 | 22:10
The government has made €7.5 billion available over the next 10 years to make new large-scale housing locations accessible. In order to be able to take steps quickly, the Minister and State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) and the Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning (VRO) have made acceleration agreements with regional authorities. The cabinet is now allocating approximately € 1.2 billion for the first 70 proposals that together will lead to the realization and accessibility of approximately 135,000 homes within now and the next 5 years.
The Netherlands is struggling with a major housing shortage. Up to and including 2030, the cabinet therefore wants to build 900,000 homes and grow to 100,000 homes per year. The fact that these homes are easily accessible is an important condition for pleasant living, working and living there. The government’s investments concern, for example, modifications to tunnels, the construction of roundabouts, roads, bicycle bridges and bicycle routes, shared mobility and mobility hubs and adaptations around (bus) stations.
More affordable homes faster
In administrative discussions with the regions last spring, regions and municipalities were invited to submit housing proposals that contribute to a faster availability of affordable housing. This concerns housing projects that can be realized faster through small interventions such as the construction of a bridge, tunnel, cycle path or bus station.
By contributing from the government to the costs for mobility and accessibility, steps can be taken quickly. This year, the government is making a total of €1.5 billion available for these so-called acceleration agreements. 70 projects were selected from the submitted proposals across the country. Good for a government grant of approximately € 1.2 billion.
At the moment, 32 proposals have been elaborated in such a way that concrete agreements have already been made between the central government and the various regions. The aim is to reach agreements on the other 38 plans in the autumn.
Minister Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management: “People who will soon have a new home also want to easily bring their children to school or the sports club and to be able to travel to work or to family and friends. New homes must therefore be easily accessible, because living somewhere is only attractive if you can easily get there by car, public transport and bicycle. With these investments in roads, bridges, roundabouts and bicycle routes, we are bringing the construction of new homes one step closer.”
State Secretary Heijnen of Infrastructure and Water Management: “We help municipalities throughout the Netherlands to speed up the construction of homes. From Goes to Enschede, we invest in local solutions for good public transport in new construction projects. And from Groningen to Maastricht, the shovel is in the ground for bicycle paths and bicycle tunnels. Relatively small interventions can often make a big difference to improve the accessibility of new houses, which is nice to see.”
Minister De Jonge of Housing and Spatial Planning: “With this result, we are taking a major step towards the much-needed acceleration of housing construction to 100,000 homes per year. We seize every opportunity to accelerate to build more affordable homes more quickly. Thanks to the regions that have come up with many good proposals. More proposals than we can honor at the moment, but there’s a lot more in the pipeline.”
6 billion for infrastructure large-scale housing areas
In addition to these acceleration agreements, the government is also investing in infrastructure in 17 large-scale housing development areas. This complex large-scale housing construction also entails greater accessibility challenges. The remaining € 6 billion is available for this. Because the ambitions and wishes are always greater than the available resources, it is examined which criteria these plans must meet. For example, proposals are weighted on the basis of the number of homes that can be built with an investment and the influence of the investment in mobility on accessibility, the economy and the living environment.
The intention is to make the first agreements in the MIRT Administrative Consultations this autumn about opening up these large-scale housing areas.