One of the countries that continues to struggle with a lack of available housing is the Netherlands. Recently, experts have issued a warning to the government, urging them to expand the construction of new homes in their country this year to prevent a significant housing shortage from occurring.
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Experts Warns on the Severe Housing Shortage
Marijn Snijders, director of Capital Value, stated that most of the requirements for constructing 100,000 dwellings had been finally finished. In the past, numerous permits were issued for projects on which construction had yet to begin. Even a builder is typically involved in these kinds of projects. Accordingly, the housing deficit is expected to reach 450,000 dwellings by 2027 if the government does nothing to address the issue.
As per Snijders, legislators have several alternatives available to ensure that development on these projects begins. Before proceeding, the government can revoke the transfer tax increase, which is presently 10.4%. It will likely bring it down to 6%, the rate that was in effect for several decades until 2020. In addition, Snijders proposed making more investments in the Start Building Incentive (Sbi), a fund that allows towns to contribute to building projects that are having difficulty obtaining funding.
If 150 million euros boosts the SBI, it will probably be possible to construct 14,000 extra dwellings. Snijders also emphasized that the government needs to take prompt action, that builders still have the potential to execute the project, and that permissions are available. Failure to do so would reportedly be a disgraceful decision. Thus. in the upcoming week, the parties are expected to present their suggestions so that they might be incorporated into the memoranda for the spring.
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Existing Housing Problems in The Netherlands
'The State of the Housing Market,' recently issued by the Dutch government, has just shown that the present housing deficit is expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 331,000 dwellings. Compared to the forecast presented in the study report published by Capital Value earlier this year, this represents nearly 15,000 additional residences.
As mentioned, one of the factors that has contributed to the worsening of the housing crisis is that the number of newly constructed dwellings is currently at an unacceptable level. It is estimated that roughly 19,000 building licenses were issued during the first four months of 2020. Moreover, to successfully alleviate the housing shortage, it is estimated that there will be a total of 55,000 dwellings available by 2020. However, annually, between 85,000 and 100,000 units are necessary.
On the other hand, the Dutch government has taken several measures over the past few years to alleviate the housing shortage that the Netherlands is experiencing. One of these measures is constructing a record number of new dwellings in 2022. Under the objectives stated by the government, beginning in 2024, a minimum of 100,000 families will be built each year.
Nevertheless, De Jonge warns that the Netherlands would most certainly experience a 'significant dip' in the construction of homes in 2024, which indicates that the possibility of these targets being realized is extremely low. Based on the projections made by the Economic Institute for Construction (EIB), the number of newly constructed homes would decrease by 3.5% this year and by 5.5% the following year in 2024.
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