On Tuesday evening, Eindhoven’s councillors tackled the housing issue yet again. Many new homes must be built, but progress is stalled. Why? Some parties point to the agreement mandating a high proportion of affordable housing. Housing councillor Mieke Verhees views the construction challenge as a ‘many-headed beast’.
Eindhoven is betting on 85% affordable housing in new construction projects, while the government is taking the line of 67%affordable. Several groups, including coalition parties D66 and CDA, doubt whether it is wise for the city to stick to the agreement in the coalition agreement. ‘The target that 85%of housing should be affordable is a fine ambition and unique in the Netherlands. However, we hear from experts that this percentage is prohibitive and could even put pressure on the Beethoven deal,’ said D66 councillor Chris Dams.
The experts Dams is referring to are various developers, builders, real estate agents and corporations; corporations that sit at the Acceleration Table housing. ‘Although opting for a high percentage of affordable housing is understandable given the huge demand for affordable housing, especially from first-time buyers, deviating from national policy in this regard has major consequences for the feasibility of the tasks of market players in particular,’ the Acceleration Table wrote in a response.
At odds
Eindhoven’s adoption of standards different from national policy raises concerns for Dams about financial support from The Hague. His party has asked the city administration whether national subsidies or the Beethoven contribution are at risk as a result. “There are indications that high affordability requirements are at odds with the conditions in the final regulation, though the exact details of the Beethoven scheme are not yet finalised,” the administration responded.
What does 85% ‘affordable’ mean precisely? Thirty percent of homes must be social housing, with a maximum rent of €879 per month. In the private sector, the limit is €1200 rent per month, and for homes for sale, a cap €405.000 applies in 2025 to be considered affordable.
“It’s an agreement, and we want to stick to that 85% target. But we expect the administration to provide a clear and substantiated plan on how we will actually meet the housing construction challenge,” Dams stated.
‘You are almost asking for guarantees. I am not going to do that, I cannot do that. I wouldn’t be able to do that at 67% either,’ Alderman Verhees responded. According to the councillor, affordability is a dial, but not the dial to solve the housing problem.
She also points to the majority in the city council that voted to maintain the 85% affordability. ‘I can give you on a note when we abandon this standard, in no time we will have a terraced house for a million euros on sale like in Amsterdam,’ the alderman said on Tuesday night.
Easy pointing
PvdA is especially proud of the 85 per cent norm. ‘If we abandon our ideals, that will not make us build any faster,’ said councillor Tjeerd Ritmeester. He feels that property developers do easily point to the municipality’s requirements as the reason why little is being built. ‘The dependence on the market is precisely the core of the problem,’ said Ritmeester.
Coalition party CDA is also troubled by the 85% rule and wants to work with the alderman to see if this standard can be handled creatively. Opposition party VVD also does not want to ‘rigidly’ stick to the norm. ‘Let’s follow the national line. 67% is already not always achievable,’ said group chairman Lex Janssen
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Chaitali Sengupta.
