Two thirds of municipalities have too few social housing units

Many municipalities do not meet the new social housing requirements laid out by Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning Hugo de Jonge, Trouw reports. The plans to make housing more affordable stipulated that municipalities must have 30 percent of homes available for “social rent,” but two thirds of municipalities do not meet this criterion.

Social rental homes are defined as those with rents below 760 euros. Percentages of social housing per municipality ranges from Groningen, at 57 percent, to Rozendaal, which sits at 5 percent. Trouw based its investigation on data from the Local Housing Monitor, which reflect housing in December 2019.

De Jonge’s suggestions are meant to benefit vulnerable members of society such as elderly people, migrant workers and homeless people. However, some municipalities balk at the expense of housing these groups. Larger municipalities with cities, like Rotterdam and Amsterdam, are more likely to reach or exceed the 30 percent goal, while smaller ones often do not.

Additionally, Trouw found the cheapest housing options are disappearing from the market. In three years, there was a decline of 26,000 homes with rent at or below 440 euros. Meanwhile, 28,000 more expensive homes were added to the market.