New Allocations: €150 Million for New Housing Across the Netherlands

The applications from municipalities for the construction of over 16,500 homes have been approved. They receive contributions from the Housing Construction Impulse (Wbi), the Housing Scheme for Focus Groups (RHA), and for affordable homes specifically in the Eindhoven region from the Housing Acceleration Metropolitan Region Eindhoven (WMRE).

“Municipalities continue to come up with good proposals for housing projects. Also for groups that require our special attention, such as students and homeless people. And the municipalities in the Eindhoven Region, who jointly strive to meet the high demand for homes there, have submitted many good proposals. That is good news for home seekers,” said Keijzer.

In cooperation with the Province of North Brabant, ASML, and 21 municipalities, the government has made funds available for housing construction in the Metropolitan Region Eindhoven. Additional housing in this region is necessary to facilitate economic growth. In this first tranche of the WMRE, 5 municipalities together receive €22.2 million for the construction of 1,700 homes.

Since 2020, the government has supported municipalities with the construction of more and affordable homes through the Wbi. The government covers up to 50% of the public costs municipalities incur in housing projects through the Wbi. Applications are assessed by the independent Housing Construction Impulse Assessment Committee, which advises the Minister.

In this 7th round, 16 applications are approved in 14 municipalities and 1 city region, totaling 6,712 homes. Of these, 76% are affordable. Municipalities receive a total of €48.7 million in contributions from the Wbi. The average contribution per home in the projects receiving Wbi is over €9,000. For this round, €120 million was available. The total amount for which municipalities applied was €66 million.

Since the first tranche in 2020, over 230,000 homes have been started with a contribution from the Wbi, of which 68% are affordable. The scheme will return in a renewed form in 2026. In addition to the Realization Stimulus, a fixed contribution of €7,000 per affordable home whose construction has started, the Wbi is intended for complex projects that only come off the ground with extra investments.

In this tranche of the Housing Scheme for Focus Groups (RHA), €60 million was available, of which €30 million was for the realization of (non-independent) student housing. For this last category, so many good applications were received that it was decided to increase the budget from €30 million to €49 million. For the regular RHA, applications totaling €25.3 million are approved.

In total, 80 projects are supported in this round from the RHA, with a total contribution of €74.3 million. This brings the construction of 8,251 new homes off the ground. Of these, 5,446 are for students and 2,805 homes for other focus groups.

With the RHA, the government supports municipalities in building affordable rental homes for focus groups; people with specific housing needs who are in a vulnerable position and therefore require guidance and support. The RHA in its current form ends with this last tranche and will merge into the Realization Stimulus.