Housing deals in the Utrecht and Amersfoort regions will provide more and affordable homes in the coming years | News item

News item | 13-03-2023 | 5:30 pm

The national government, the province of Utrecht, municipalities and housing associations are jointly supporting the construction of more than 83,500 new homes in the period 2022-2030. To this end, three housing deals have been drawn up for the U10 regions (collaboration of 16 Utrecht municipalities), Amersfoort and Foodvalley. These housing deals contain agreements about where these homes should be located, the type of homes and the segment in which these homes fall. Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning Hugo de Jonge, together with all participating parties, signed the housing deals.

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What are the agreements about?

Agreements are made per region about the number of homes that will be built. In the U10 region this concerns 61,000 homes, 27,000 homes in the Amersfoort region and 25,000 homes in the Foodvalley region. The feasibility of the agreements depends on various preconditions, for example in the areas of financial shortages, accessibility, nitrogen, grid congestion, and capacity at governments and the construction sector. By signing the housing deals, the parties express their commitment to implement the agreements and jointly tackle the bottlenecks.

Deputy Rob van Muilekom: “The number of inhabitants in the province of Utrecht is expected to increase sharply in the coming years. To ensure that enough affordable and sustainable homes are built, we must accelerate and make housing construction more sustainable. That is no easy task in these times, in which high interest rates, nitrogen, network congestion and staff shortages have a major impact on the entire housing construction chain. But I am confident that with this support from the government, together with the regions, municipalities, housing corporations and partners in the construction industry, we will do everything we can to tackle these challenges, so that our province can provide a t (h)home offers.”

Minister Hugo de Jonge: ‘By signing the three regional housing deals in and around Utrecht, good for the construction of 83,500 homes up to and including 2030, we are taking an important step in reducing the housing shortage. A major ambition that is achievable thanks to the involvement of municipalities, corporations and market parties. With these homes we provide more affordable and good quality homes in villages and towns in Utrecht.’

Affordable housing

There are too few affordable homes on the current housing market. It is also difficult for people with a low and middle income to take out a mortgage for an owner-occupied home. Agreements have therefore also been made in the housing deals about the affordability of the homes. The aim is that from 2025, two-thirds of the homes that will be built will fall in the ‘affordable’ segment. These are social rental homes (up to € 763 per month), mid-market rental homes (up to € 1,000 per month) and affordable owner-occupied homes (up to € 355,000). An important part of all affordable housing will be built by corporations.

Signature

The housing deals for the U10 region and the Amersfoort region were signed on March 13 in the new Hogekwartier district in Amersfoort. Earlier on March 8, the housing deal for the Foodvalley region was signed during a meeting in Zutphen. Both times, the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning Hugo de Jonge was present to sign on behalf of the government.

Where will the homes be?

Region U10, 61,000 homes: Bunnik 2,179, De Bilt 536, De Ronde Venen 2,950, Houten 852, Lopik 291, Montfoort 475, Nieuwegein 5,100, Oudewater 450, Stichtse Vecht 3,323, Utrecht 33,571, Utrechtse Heuvelrug 1,143, Vijfheerenlanden 2,7961, Wo5erden District near Duurstede 900, IJsselstein 1.568, Zeist 2.419.

Amersfoort region, 27,000 homes: Amersfoort 11,584, Baarn 874, Barneveld 5,380, Bunschoten 1,103, Eemnes 401, Leusden 1,455, Nijkerk 3,857, Soest 1,250 and Woudenberg 1,060.

Foodvalley region, 25,000 homes: Barneveld 5,380, Ede 7,000, Nijkerk 3,857, Renswoude 324, Rhenen 431, Scherpenzeel 841, Veenendaal 4,800 and Wageningen 2,750 (the municipalities of Barneveld and Nijkerk are part of two housing deal regions).

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