The Lower House wants Utrecht to build 25,000 houses in the Rijnenburg and Reijerscop polders on the southwest side of the city. Minister Kajsa Ollongren of the Interior must enforce this by giving the city a so-called instruction.
The houses are intended for house hunters from Utrecht, but also from other parts of the country.
The government parties CDA and VVD will submit a motion on Monday, when discussing the housing budget, with which they want to enforce housing in the polders. They believe that this is a housing site of national importance. The motion can count on the support of a majority in the House of Representatives.
Reclassification
The Rijnenburg and Reijerscop polders were allocated to Utrecht in 2001 when they were reorganized to build houses. But after almost twenty years of discussions, Utrecht now wants to create an energy landscape with eight colossal wind turbines and 230 hectares of solar panels. This makes large-scale housing impossible in the short term.
Unspeakable
CDA MP Julius Terpstra thinks that is not negotiable. “There is a shortage of 350,000 homes in the Netherlands. That is why a million houses will have to be built in the next ten years. This is only possible if we also have large construction sites on the outskirts of cities. Building can be done quickly in Rijnenburg and Reyerscop. So we have to do that too. ”
The CDA had previously opposed Utrecht’s plans for the energy landscape, but then received too little support. Because the VVD is now also in favor of a designation, there is now talk of a parliamentary majority. VVD MP Daniel Koerhuis is clear: “There is a huge housing shortage. That is why we have to start building quickly in those two polders. If Utrecht does not cooperate, the minister must give the city a direction. ”
Special
That is special if the minister actually does so. Professor of the housing market Peter Boelhouwer cannot remember that a minister ever took such a measure to enforce housing. “It’s a horse remedy,” he says. “I can only remember that in the 1970s Moerdijk was forced to build an industrial estate in this way.”
CDA and VVD, which jointly submit the motion, are very concerned about the pace of housing construction in the Netherlands. Utrecht and many other cities mainly opt for housing in locations within the city, such as old business parks. Those locations are expensive and housing is complicated.
Concerns about numbers
That is also Boelhouwer’s conviction: “I am very concerned whether we will achieve the numbers of homes we need, if construction is mainly done in inner-city locations. Housing construction is expensive and slow. to deal with problems such as polluted soil. That stops things. You can only tackle the housing shortage if you also develop large construction sites on the outskirts of cities.
The advantage, according to Boelhouwer, is that there is more choice for home seekers. “It is easier to build affordable housing outside the cities, something that almost all political parties have in their election manifesto. You can also build single-family homes, which are popular with families. The inner-city locations will mainly be home to many expensive apartments,” says the professor. .
The city of Utrecht does not want to respond to the initiative of CDA and VVD at the moment, says a spokesman for responsible alderman Klaas Verschuure.
