Finding a home in Eindhoven is a difficult job. The supply is scarce or too expensive. Some people think this is because the municipality only builds for expats, but that is a misconception, according to Mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
“For the larger part, we are building the majority of affordable houses for middle-income earners,” Dijsselbloem said Thursday morning in BNR Nieuwsradio. In conversation with the radio station, he looked not only at the state of affairs in The Hague but also at “his” city of Eindhoven.
According to one interviewee, Brainport Eindhoven, with over six thousand tech companies, is an important player in the Dutch economy. Yet not everyone benefits from that economic success, Dijsselbloem also knows. According to the mayor, work is being done on that.
“We are trying to ensure that opportunities continue to arise for everyone, for example in the housing market,” Dijsselbloem said. “Some people think we only build for international workers, but the opposite is true.”
3,000 homes per year
Of the three thousand homes to be added per year, most would be affordable. However, that building ambition is faltering due to a lack of space, nitrogen emissions, lengthy procedures, and rising costs. There would also be much uncertainty due to a looming three billion budget cut and uncertainty about how much money the city will receive from the government in the coming years.
“That is really starting to become a stick in the wheel,” Dijsselbloem expressed his concerns. “The economy is going well and fast, but we aren’t able to make the investments responsibly that come with it.”
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Chaitali Sengupta. She also gives online INBURGERING classes.
