Flood risk map could prevent the construction of 220,000 homes

A 2023 map by the Ministry of Infrastructure showing where construction can still happen based on climate-induced flooding risk and soil subsidence could prevent the construction of 220,000 homes, the Economic Institute for Construction (EIB) told the Telegraaf. Based on that map, only half of the 983,000 homes that Housing Minister Mona Keijzer wants to build can go ahead without additional measures.

“There is a risk that this map will become the guiding principle for whether or not to allow housing construction,” EIB director Taco van Hoek told the newspaper. “This is based on the idea that you should not build in areas where there may be a risk of flooding. However, this would not only make housing objectives out of sight, but such a policy is also unnecessary.”

According to the EIB, the 2023 map takes no account of existing homes and uses the most extreme climate scenario. The Netherlands will protect existing buildings in the event of a sea level rise, Van Hoek said. “With these measures, you also protect the new construction that we are now adding. It is remarkable that the relationship between existing buildings and new construction has been left out of sight. As a result, new construction is unnecessarily blocked and the housing crisis is resolved even less quickly.”

Moreover, additional measures can be taken to make housing construction safe, like raising the ground, Van Hoek told the newspaper. That is expensive, but better than locking up large spatial reas for new homes, he said.

The EIB calculated that raising the ground for approximately a quarter of planned homes will cost 7,500 euros per home. The EIB estimates the total costs of additional measures like these at 2.5 billion euros.