New Utrecht Council to push home construction, low-cost housing; Property tax up 15%

The new coalition presiding over City Council in Utrecht put forth a plan on Tuesday promoting new home construction and lower-cost housing, while also sharply increasing the property tax and tourist tax to help defray financial problems in the fourth largest municipality in the Netherlands. The coalition agreement between the local branches of left-wing party PRO and centrist D66 says the executive branch of city government will focus more on implementing their plans, as opposed to endless rounds pushing new political policy.

The new coalition of aldermen, which serves with incumbent Mayor Sharon Dijksma, want 80 percent of new construction projects to be reserved for affordable housing, such as social housing. They also want more available rental homes for middle-income earners, and they believe that group of middle class residents should have better access to the sale of owner-occupied real estate, according to the coalition agreement, dubbed "Voor Uuuu."

Aldermen taking office plan to keep in place a measure where people working in certain sectors get priority for housing. This includes education and healthcare employees. The coalition also wants to make better use of the existing housing stock, with a preference for making it easier for people to share a home. This could lead to expanded use of joint tenancy contracts between friends and acquaintances so that flatmates can more easily rent a single home together.

But the tax homeowners pay on residential property will rise by 15 percent, according to the agreement. Currently, the annual tax on residential property is just over 0.08 percent over the official WOZ valuation of the home, which will rise to about 0.093 percent. On average, homes in Utrecht were valued at 548,000 euros this year, over 100,000 euros more than the national average, according to figures released last week by Statistics Netherlands.

Under current rules, homeowners will pay about 441 euros on average in property tax. That will jump to 508 euros when the coalition passes their plan. The tax increase is on top of the rising value of residential property in the city. The WOZ assessment rose by 11.8 percent in Utrecht this year compared to 2025.

This is not the only tax increase planned in the city. The left-center coalition also wants to boost the tourist tax from 10 percent to 12.5 percent. However, the dog tax will be scrapped because the new coalition finds it unfair that only dog ​​owners pay this tax, “while other pets can also cause costs and nuisance.”

To reduce pressure on the electricity grid, the aldermen will focus their attention to improving the insulation of homes and businesses to reduce their consumption of energy. A special municipal team will also be established to deal with the consequences of energy network congestion, or a fully overloaded grid. The municipality itself said that it is making “difficult decisions” in this regard “so that the city does not grind to a halt.” The temporary use of gas and diesel generators at construction projects is one possible scenario, they said.

The incoming coalition acknowledged the need to make tough choices because of the state of Utrecht's finances, which are under pressure, like many other municipalities. The city can save 10.5 million euros by cutting the number of policy officers and managers, in part because the aldermen will not push new policy as frequently.

“No more stacks of new plans, but rolling up our sleeves,” PRO Utrecht and D66 announced on Tuesday afternoon during the presentation of the coalition agreement. The results should be immediately visible and tangible for residents, with a focus on sustainability and equal opportunities for city residents, according to coalition negotiators Mahaar Fattal and Venita Dada-Anthonij

A combination of an increased tax base, more tax revenue, and cutting costs gives the municipality more room to make investments. The new Utrecht government wants to allocate more money for the maintenance of bridges and playgrounds, and the creation of additional outdoor swimming locations.