One of the most important themes in the run-up to the elections for the House of Representatives is the enormous shortage of housing, especially in Brabant. The nitrogen crisis is delaying the granting of building permits, while the overloaded power grid is also causing problems when it comes to new construction. Meanwhile, house prices are rising and waiting lists for social housing are getting longer and longer. We list the problems on the Brabant housing market.
Residential construction
Between 2023 and 2035, 165,000 new homes must be built in Brabant to combat the housing shortage and accommodate the expected population growth. That amounts to 13,500 houses per year. An estimated 12,000 to 12,500 homes will be added this year. So the goal is not achieved. Still, this number is better than in 2024, when 10,800 homes were built. A deficit that the province still has to make up.
Rental properties
The pressure is also enormous on the social rental market. Responses that Omroep Brabant received from Brabant housing associations show that there are many home seekers. In Northeast Brabant (and in Gennep, Limburg) approximately 42,800 people are currently actively looking for social housing. Last year, 57,444 home seekers were registered in Southeast Brabant. In West Brabant (and Zeeland) this number is considerably lower. There are 28,000 people looking for social housing.
The average waiting time at housing associations varies per region, but is usually just under two years. The survey shows that young people in particular find it difficult to find a home, but it is also regularly difficult for large families. All cooperatives indicate that they are busy delivering new social housing.
Owner-occupied homes
Due to the limited supply, the prices of owner-occupied homes are rising rapidly. At the beginning of 2020, you had to pay an average of 234,567 euros for an apartment in our province. At the beginning of this year, as a buyer of an apartment in Brabant you already paid an average of 332,033, an increase of almost one hundred thousand.
If you look for a house in our province, you have to dig even deeper into your pockets. On average, a house cost 339,451 euros in January 2020. Five years later, this is already more than 180,000 euros more in Brabant, namely an average of 520,792 euros.
The Debate of the South
On October 25, the seven largest parties from the polls for the 2025 House of Representatives elections will debate each other in Tilburg. Geert Wilders (PVV), Henri Bontenbal (CDA), Rob Jetten (D66), Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA), Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD), Joost Eerdmans (JA21) and Jimmy Dijk (SP) debate topics that the residents of the south find important, such as the housing shortage.
The ‘Debate of the South’ can be followed live on Saturday evening, October 25 from half past seven via the website and app of Omroep Brabant, L1 and Omroep Zeeland and via these broadcasters on television.
Research conducted by Kieskompas for Omroep Brabant shows that Brabant residents mainly want construction to take place faster, more and more affordably. “Affordable rental and owner-occupied homes for young people who want to leave home at an acceptable age, as it should be,” says someone who participated in the research. People also want objection procedures to be considerably shortened and for (nitrogen) rules to be dealt with more flexibly in housing construction.
Living permanently in a holiday home is currently prohibited in the Netherlands, but if it is up to the people of Brabant, this will be allowed. About seven in ten people want it to be possible to live permanently in a holiday home. Finally, two-thirds of respondents do not mind if there are fewer opportunities for local residents to object to new construction plans.