Zuid-Holland first province to mandate two-thirds affordable housing in new construction

The province of Zuid-Holland will be the first province to check that new construction projects include enough affordable housing. If they don’t meet the two-thirds affordable homes target, the involved municipality will have to adjust the plans, Anne Koning (PvdA), the responsible provincial administrator, told NOS.

“It doesn’t make sense” to build homes that cost 600,000 or 700,000 euros because the largest group of people looking for a home can’t afford that, Koning said. Space is scarce in Zuid-Holland, which makes it extra important to ensure that the homes built meet the demand, she said.

According to Koning, there are too many plans focused only on more expensive homes because that’s where the biggest profits lay. The province will, therefore, mandate that two-thirds of homes built fall into the “affordable” category. That is owner-occupied homes costing 355,000 euros or less and sufficient social housing and mid-market rentals. Zuid-Holland is aiming for 235,000 new homes by 2030.

“For years, the government has focused little on which homes to build, only looking at how many. So we now really have to work on adding affordable homes,” Koning said. “At some point, you need to find affordable housing and not that 700,000 euro villa.”

Koning isn’t worried that the mandatory affordable housing quota will result in project developers being unable to earn anything in Zuid-Holland. There are subsidies and other government assistance available, she said. “Perhaps we should also be satisfied with a little less profit.”

Peter Boelhouwer, a professor of housing systems at TU Delft, is critical of Zuid-Holland’s measure. “If it means that plans don’t go ahead, then we’re even further away,” he told NOS. If governments want sufficient affordable constructions, they must make sure there’s money in return, he said. He referred to Amsterdam, where the city made agreements with investors for a lower land price. “You have to be very careful with just stupid enforcement.”