News item | 26-08-2025 | 17:59
At the request of the Senate, Minister Mona Keijzer of Housing and Spatial Planning (VRO) investigates the feasibility and legal shelf life of amendments submitted by the House of Representatives in the handling of the Bill Reinforcement Direction of public housing in July.
The amendments were discouraged by the minister, but assumed. Minister Keijzer has bent over the 4 amendments and is conducting extra research into 2 of them. The minister will inform the Senate about this in more detail. The aim is to treat the law as quickly as possible. The Public Housing Directorate Act is important to tackle the housing shortage. This goal is widely endorsed, also by fellow authorities and market parties.
The amendment on an absolute ban on priority for all persons with a residence permit ensures that this group cannot in any circumstances get an urgency statement for a home, even if, for example, there are medical reasons for this.
This distinction is contrary to Article 1 of our Constitution, which states that all those in the Netherlands are treated equally in the Netherlands and that it is forbidden to discriminate.
A bill from the minister on the deletion of priority for status holders is currently for advice at the Council of State. Because of this law, status holders no longer get priority based on the fact that they are status holders. They can, like all other Dutch people, get urgency for other reasons. The Council of State advice is expected in September.
Feasibility
For the amendment on priority for homeless families with children, the minister, together with municipalities, will definitely pay for whom this regulation must apply. The minister also examines whether municipalities have sufficient capacity to handle all applications for this on time and what the effect is on the waiting time for other home seekers.
A 3rd amendment regulates that the Minister of VRO must handle building permits if municipalities decide too late. Further research is done via an implementation test. The amendment has, among other things, consequences for the relationships between central government, provinces and municipalities.
The 4th amendment ensures that the pre -emptive rights of municipalities can be extended again and again without planning becoming more concrete. This change in the pre -emptive right makes an infringement of property rights. Preferred right requires landowners to first offer their land to municipalities in sales. The amendment must prevent potential housing locations from becoming more and more expensive due to land speculation.
The Public Housing Direction Act
The Bill Reinforcement Direction Volkshuisvesting ensures that governments can steer better and faster on how much, where and for whom they are going to build. The law must ensure sufficient affordable homes, shorter procedures and equal opportunities for urgent home seekers.