Extra road or two in Dutch towns, cities could create space for 200,000 homes

The Netherlands can relatively quickly construct 200,000 additional homes by adding one or two streets to towns and cities, the Economic Institute for Construction (EIB) concluded in a study commissioned by outgoing Housing Minister Hugo de Jonge, De Telegraaf reports.

Many existing housing construction plans are focused on inner cities, where there are already buildings. Companies must first be moved out, which can take years. But a small expansion on the edge of a town may be easier, the EIB said.

The EIB studied the possibilities of adding one or two streets around cities and towns in 23 Noord-Holland municipalities. After correcting for locations that seemed suitable on paper but weren’t in practice, the EIB concluded that 45,000 homes could be realized in Noord-Holland via the “side street” idea.

“We have always thought that small locations near existing cities and towns can be an important key to solving the housing crisis, and this is now also evident from a practical test among municipalities,” EIB director Taco van Hoek said to the newspaper. “If we were to introduce this plan throughout the Netherlands, based on the experience in Noord-Holland and the first results for Utrecht, Zuid-Holland, and Noord-Brabant, it could yield roughly 200,000 additional homes.”

The EIB stressed that this would be possible without affecting nature reserves, quiet or bird protection areas, areas around World Heritage sites, and sufficient arterial roads.

But for the plan to succeed, the provinces must give municipalities more freedom. “We have found that many municipalities are willing to do this. But they can’t get permission. The first key is more freedom from the province,” Van Hoek said. According to the EIB, the “side street” plan is small enough that it doesn’t affect more than an individual municipality. “It stands to reason that the democratically elected municipal council can decide on this itself.”

“We have also found that the municipalities attach great importance to spatial quality and landscape, so this appears to be well secured. The plan requires a maximum of 2 percent of agricultural land,” Van Hoek said.

The EIB suggests giving municipalities the freedom to build up to 50 homes on the edge of a town or city. “Small-scale housing also requires time and capacity, but the lead time for these types of projects is relatively short, meaning that the lion’s share of these types of homes can be completed within four years. It is a very practical solution with which we can seriously solve the housing shortage.”