Voters find housing the most important election theme in provincial council elections

According to a survey by Kieskompas, housing is the most important issue for the majority of voters in the provincial council elections in mid-March. The strong interest in the issue is due to the ever-higher rents and shortages in the Dutch housing market, Trouw reported.

Of the 5,411 Dutch voters surveyed, more than 70 percent said they would rank "housing" in their personal top 3 most important election issues. Excessively high rents and the continuing rise in the lack of affordable homes are triggers for prioritizing the issue and even resulted in "housing" being the number one issue for more than one in three voters.

The issue around housing is of particular concern to young voters, ages 18 to 34, the survey found. This age group rates housing as the most important election issue, at 40 percent. In addition, when asked which issue would influence their voting decision, young voters responded that housing ranked among the top 3 issues for them, the Dutch newspaper wrote.

Although a majority of Dutch voters recognize housing as the most important issue, a smaller percentage of older voters, between 66 and 73 percent, rank it as the number one issue, according to the survey. However, even for older voters, "housing" is the most voted issue for the provincial council elections, which will be held March 15.

In addition to the election issue of "housing," the issue of energy is also an important matter for many. For example, "energy" was ranked a bit more often than housing in the top 3 election themes in the provinces of Gelderland and Drenthe. More than 60 percent of Dutch voters ranked “energy” in their personal top three vote topics, followed by “Nature and the environment”, Trouw reported.