The Dutch government has published more details about its plans to get the residential market moving again and is hosting a housing summit with investors, developers, housing corporations, and local authorities later in the year.

The aim is to draw up agreements on stimulating more affordable homes and other housing construction, housing minister Mona Keijzer said at the publication of the government’s plans on September 17. 

“Tackling the housing shortage is an absolutely top priority and it must be possible to realise 100,000 houses next year,” Keijzer said. This will be done “not only by building faster but also by making better use of existing buildings”.

The minister is making €5 billion available for housing construction in the coming years, and to accelerate building procedures. A further €2.5 billion has been allocated to develop infrastructure and public transport links.

The government has also pledged to continue to pressure the European Commission to take a speedy decision about expanding the options for state support in affordable home construction by both housing corporations and the private sector.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to appoint the EU’s first commissioner for affordable housing as well as set up an investment platform for affordable and sustainable housing. She has also promised to review state aid rules and their impact on the housing sector.

Some of the new homes will be realized through major housing developments and so far 16 NOVEX locations for large-scale development have been identified nationwide. In smaller towns and villages, the development will be in the form of an extra street.  The government also plans to stimulate the building of 290,000 units for the elderly, including clustered and care developments.

The transfer tax for residential property sales, which investors pay over each property they buy, will be cut from 10.4% to 8% in 2026, which officials hope will stimulate more investors to enter the market.

Cutting red tape and reducing the time procedures take is also central to the government’s approach. The rules for repurposing existing buildings and subdividing large homes into smaller units will be simplified under the motto “yes, unless”. It will also be made easier for groups of friends to share a property.

In addition local authorities will be stimulated financially to take a proactive approach to allocating land and housing will have priority over wind turbines in areas where land for building is scarce. Any new regulations on sustainability and energy efficiency will come from Europe, rather than local initiatives, the minister said.

Photo: Mona Keijzer by Martin Beekman for the RVD

Area development is about more than just coming up with a house or a row of houses, says Helma Born, who has just taken over as new managing director of BPD in the Netherlands.

BPD, a founding member of the Holland Metropole alliance, has been responsible for the development of almost 400,000 homes since it was founded in 1946. The company still focuses on providing sustainable, affordable housing across the country but with a wider focus, on creating neighbourhoods where people will want to live and work.

“Area development is more about determining what makes a neighbourhood a good one for people to live in, and what services are needed,” Helma says. “It’s about how people will get to the area and about healthy living. It’s about making sure there are places to enjoy the outdoors in.”

Public private partnerships, she says, are the key to achieving this. “We work with other private sector companies and local authorities on multi-year projects and you have to do it together,” she says. “It is essential. Local authorities draw up the policies and say if a project can be realized and are also responsible for making sure it fits in with what is already there. Working together is crucial. Without it, things will not go well.”

The Dutch emphasis on public private alliances may partly be down to the long-established tradition of working together which has been made necessary by the country’s small size.

In Britain and the US, for example, the division between government and private developers is much more marked.

“The tradition of planning has always been something national and local government have been good at,” she says. “We’ve had some ups and downs, and now the state is making a statement again with the new planning legislation and the publication of its vision for residential development. We are so short on space and so much needs to be done that the government has to. I hope the new minister [Mona Keijzer] will continue with the same strategy – she has already hinted that she will.” 

“We don’t need new policy,” says Helma. “If you look at sustainability and resilience, we’ve pretty much got it under control when it comes to new developments, and affordability is going well too. But we need to be faster and make sure things don’t get bogged down in procedures. We’ve masses to do, and a certain moment you just have to get on with it.”

For example, she says, why does every development have to be treated as if it is special? “Take a city, where they build 4,000 new homes a year. I think 3,000 of them, perhaps 3,500 can be built with very little discussion. But we make every development a subject for debate and this is something where we can take action, by establishing clear routes to reach our objectives.”

Expo Real, she says, is a source of energy and inspiration. “The market has been fairly cautious in the past two years, but I hope this year everyone feels that things are improving,” she says. “Private buyers are buying and I hope that investors will start to feel the same way. The previous minister said we needed to build 900,000 homes and even though we have built some in the intervening period, that is still the case. It’s a gigantic job.”

You can meet Helma and the rest of the BPD team at the Holland Metropole stand at Expo Real from October 7 to 9. Hall 2, stand 130.

“Working in inner city locations demands more of developers given the complexity of current rules and the need to fit in with the community already there,” says Lonneke Zuijdwijk, who joined the management board of Heijmans Vastgoed as director this summer.

The Zuidwest development in The Hague is a typical example of a large and complex area development. The area, built in the 1950s, had become marginalised, with low-quality housing and poor facilities for the community living there.

“The first parts have been demolished and we have recently started the construction of the first new complex,” Lonneke says. “But it is not just about the bricks and the houses. It’s about the social impact we can make to change the neighbourhood by, for example, mixing owner-occupier homes with social housing and mid-market rentals.”

People living in the area have been widely consulted about the development plans, a key part of any major project, Lonneke says. “It’s about how you deal with the people who live there. It is also about education, and providing schools. It’s about work, playing fields, sports facilities, culture. This is something we really emphasis in our work.”

A complex project like The Hague Zuidwest, or the Hart van Zuid in Rotterdam, requires a specialized approach. “You have to look at a project differently, particularly in the early stages,” says Lonneke. “You have to form a connection with the people already living there and the entrepreneurs who work there. You need to listen to them and find out what is really needed. Sustainability, in the widest possible sense, is essential, and so is wellbeing. Wellbeing is a new factor and it highlights a change in how we approach projects.”

A more people-centred approach to development does make the job more complicated and requires different expertise. For example, Heijmans now employs ecologists and sociologists to help ensure that its targets are met. Boosting biodiversity and climate adaptation are also areas where advances can still be made, she says. European legislation will also be helpful in encouraging the sector to take further steps.

In addition, Lonneke is keen to see increased industrialisation in the sector, which she says boosts efficiency and frees up time to focus on other areas. “People are sometimes critical about industrialisation but we think if you use modular buildings, you have more time to focus on the environment, building on biodiversity and creating a community. The building itself is just one element in an area development project. More than that modular building has become much more varied and flexible as well.”

While sustainability is now a key part of any project in the Netherlands today, more can still be done in terms of improving construction materials such as circular concrete and wood  Heijmans has for example its own factory producing timber framing for homes.

“We have to deal with sustainability, affordability and all the rules associated with these issues, which are all together making it difficult to speed up the development of residential property,” she says. “But when you look at the social impact of the shortage of housing, you know all stakeholders involved in area developments have to get moving.

Meet Lonneke Zuijdwijk and the rest of the Heijmans Vastgoed team on the Holland Metropole stand at Expo Real which runs from October 7 to 9. Hall A2, stand 130

Illustration: Dreven, Gaarden, Zichten is part of The Hague Zuidwest area development

Urban planning in the Netherlands must be focused on densification, based around sufficient amenities, good public transport and green streetscapes, Edward Schuurmans, partner at KCAP said in an interview ahead of the Expo Real property trade fair in Munich.

To build enough houses in a country where there is a shortfall of at least 400,000 homes, local authorities and developers must look to both adding to existing residential areas in cities and adding streets to smaller villages on a fitting scale. “You have to both densify and build new neighborhoods” Edward says. “We must begin with densifying our cities and that means having better infrastructure as well. If you look at trains, for example, we in the Netherlands are somewhat late, compared with some other parts of Europe.”

KCAP has, for example, been working together with Lelystad city council to draw up a vision for transforming the eastern part of the city centre, involving a linear park, reduced car use and 1,200 new housing units, including a landmark building that will be 18 storeys high. The Fellenoord project around Eindhoven’s main railway station involves transforming a mono-functional area, dominated by infrastructure and offices, into a lively and mixed, dense urban district.

Integrated design

A switch to more sustainable forms of mobility is a key part of KCAP’s focus, with area developments edging out cars and bringing in more green spaces. “Our expertise spans architecture, urban design, and landscape and in the award-winning Cruquius project, located in Amsterdam’s former eastern harbour area, we incorporated all three disciplines,” Edward says. “This enables us to create integrated environments, where people can live and work happily. We believe in a mix of functions.”

New build properties in the Netherlands are now built to the highest energy saving standards and bio-based and circular construction materials are becoming more popular as well. So are we now reaching an end in regulating what can be done to ensure housing is as sustainable as possible?

“Fifteen to 20 years ago it was all about energy use and now it has all been regulated,” Edward says. “Everyone knows how their buildings need to perform and you could say every new building[ES1]  is sustainable energy-wise. I expect the use of bio-based and recycled material will be regulated too within the coming five years.”

CO2 targets

He predicts the next big issue that will be used to set targets for sustainable construction may well be CO2. “And that means covering the lifespan of a building, not just the construction process,” he says. “It will be about more than energy use or the construction materials. The next step could be to integrate the actual footprint of a building during its lifespan.”

“In the end, sustainability is all about what the gain for end user is, rather than Excel sheets,” Edward says. “Sustainability is often reduced to quantities, to figures, but it is actually about creating comfortable spaces. It is really about creating the best possible environments for people to live and work in.”

The KCAP team will be part of the Holland Metropole stand A2.130 at Expo Real in Munich from October 7 to 9.

Illustration: Part of the Cruquius development in Amsterdam. Illustration: Aiste Takauskaite