News item | 15-02-2022 | 16:50
A total of 124 projects from 83 municipalities will receive a financial contribution for the realization of housing and accommodation areas for special groups. Municipalities provide housing for students, labor migrants and status holders, for example, with an award from the Specialized Housing Scheme (RHA).
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations made extra money available to provide a contribution for all applications that met the criteria. The first municipalities already received their grant in December. All applicants have now been notified.
Attention for all groups
With a contribution from the scheme, municipalities can realize projects that would otherwise not have been financially feasible. Municipalities have five years to realize the projects. In that period, 6,335 living spaces for focus groups and 1,751 accommodation spaces for labor migrants will be added. Thanks in part to the awarded contribution, municipalities are building new affordable homes and, for example, also making vacant office space suitable for living or staying. Living and accommodation areas will be made available for the following focus groups:
- 617 living quarters and 1751 living quarters for migrant workers;
- 654 living quarters for homeless people;
- 963 living quarters for status holders;
- 2,012 student housing;
- 378 living quarters for caravan dwellers;
- 1,713 living quarters for other emergency seekers.
There is a great need to be able to start quickly with the construction of the new living and accommodation areas. Alderman Laura Hoogstraten (Municipality of Zeist) says:
“Everyone deserves a suitable home and housing for special target groups is desperately needed, but also very complex and very expensive. We don’t want homeless people to end up on the streets (again). And the outflow from care institutions is stalled because there are no suitable homes in combination with care. In Zeist we work together with the Zeister corporations and a number of care institutions to also provide special target groups with a good home. The financial contribution as support helps us to realize more than 50 suitable homes in two new-build projects for young adults with autism and for people who get their lives back in order after a homeless life.”
To be continued in 2022
Investing in increasing the housing supply for target groups remains necessary. Many people from these groups have a hard time finding a good home. The accommodation of status holders, caravan dwellers, homeless people, students and other emergency seekers requires a targeted approach.
The municipalities that receive a contribution were informed about this from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). RVO implements the scheme for the ministry. The scheme is currently being evaluated and will be followed up around the summer of 2022. More information about this will be announced in April 2022.