Dutch Cabinet pushing €420 mil. into a new style of care home for senior citizens

The construction of homes for elderly people requiring more care is lagging behind. The Cabinet is therefore allocating an additional €420 million to build more clustered and care-suitable homes by 2030, Ministers Elenor Boekholt (Housing, D66) and Mirjam Sterk (Elderly Care, CDA) announced.

The government views clustered homes as a kind of modern care home. Residents have their own apartment, but share a common area. This year, the government has already allocated €120 million for such housing types. This €420 million comes on top of that in the coming years, primarily to keep the plans affordable.

Just like with the construction of regular homes, it is less attractive for property developers to build affordable senior housing. They earn less from homes that are later rented out at a lower price. The Cabinet has financial schemes in place to cover this “unprofitable gap.”

The Cabinet hopes that 170,000 single-storey homes will be built in the coming years. There are more than enough plans ot achieve this. Since 2022, around 20,000 of these “zero-step homes” have been completed annually. Boekholt therefore expects to achieve that target.

Last month, an ABN Amro report touted building more homes for the elderly as the best way to solve the Netherlands’ housing crisis. Many elderly people currently live in too large homes intended for families because they have nowhere else to go. "Let's not try to add even more family homes, but rather more suitable housing for the elderly. This group can then move on. And that frees up homes for young families looking for a house,” said ABN Amro analyst Jorke Kooijenga.