News item | 25-05-2023 | 15:46
Many people experience the consequences of the shortage of affordable housing every day. Some people’s lives come to a standstill, or even deteriorate because they cannot find a home. Or they are limited in a next step in their lives, such as having children, living together, living independently or moving on to a different type of home. This subject therefore received the necessary attention during the Provincial Council elections in March 2023. To ensure sufficient affordable housing, municipalities, provinces and the national government will work together as one government. Provinces play an important role when it comes to public housing and providing sufficient space for housing locations. In this context, Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning Hugo de Jonge has sent a letter to all Commissioners of the King calling on the formation of the councils to pay attention to retaking control of public housing and the important role played by the provinces have.
Working together as one government
Municipalities, provinces and the national government will jointly take the lead in order to realize the major challenge for public housing. This means that they work together as one government on the goals: the construction of more than 900,000 homes, two thirds of which are affordable, and the social rental homes must be distributed evenly between municipalities in the region. With the conclusion of the 35 regional housing deals, provinces, municipalities and the national government have taken an important step in taking control. In these housing deals, agreements have been made about how much, for whom and where the building will be built.
Active steering by provinces
Due to the current financial circumstances, it is expected that there will be a temporary decline in housing production, especially in 2024. This requires cooperation between the national government, provinces, municipalities, housing associations and market parties so that housing production picks up quickly. And to look together at what is possible. It is important here that the provinces actively aim for sufficient construction locations that can be realized quickly and offer sufficient space for these locations. This concerns space for housing in large and small locations, in the city and in villages and on the edges of villages and towns. It is also important that there are enough locations for flex homes that can be realized quickly. In addition, it is important that provinces provide sufficient opportunities for housing in order to maintain the quality of life in the village centres. The provinces also have an important role to play in ensuring that new residential areas are accessible, that there are energy facilities and that there is an eye for landscape, nature and climate resilience.
Fair distribution of social rent, attention groups and emergency seekers
In the housing deals, provinces, municipalities and Minister Hugo de Jonge have agreed to distribute the construction of social rental homes fairly between municipalities. Provinces also play an important role in this. A bill ‘Strengthening the management of public housing’ is being prepared, which includes the central role of the provinces. In this law, provinces also play a central role in the balanced distribution of housing for special needs groups and urgent home seekers between municipalities.
Investment of 11 billion
The joint task requires support from central government. In addition, this government is investing more than 11 billion euros in the construction of homes. The most important financial schemes for this are the Mobility Fund (7.5 billion euros) and the Housing Construction Impulse (1.25 billion euros). And in order to cope with the worsening economic conditions, work is being done on a start-building impulse to allow projects that threaten to come to a standstill to continue.