From market-driven thinking to ‘Build, build, build’: Leiden experts on the housing crisis
The housing crisis is affecting a substantial group of Dutch citizens and is one of the main election themes this year. How did things get this far and what should the new cabinet do in the coming four years to address the problems? Three Leiden researchers give their answer.
Build faster
Joep Steegmans is an economist and he looks at how people look for a house, mainly on the housing website Funda. He also taught at the department of Public Administration on the housing crisis. ‘The crisis on the property market is an issue of all times. Prices are always rising either too quickly or too slowly, depending on who you ask about it. But the housing crisis, which is much more about the right to a roof over your head, is relatively new. It has now become a real housing problem.’
Given this shift, solutions are now also being sought in other areas, Steegmans observes. ‘At first, the solution was mainly looked for in market-driven thinking. The market was apparently not performing properly, so a change was needed. Now it’s much more about “Build, build, build”.’ Quite rightly, according to Steegmans. ‘There is a chronic shortage of affordable homes. One solution can indeed be found in building more suitable houses faster. But this runs up against other major dossiers, such as the nitrogen problem and network congestion.’
Abolishing mortgage interest relief
Steegmans also sees a mainly economic solution. ‘Mortgage interest relief for house owners needs to be changed. For decades there has been a consensus among economists that we have to move away from mortgage interest relief in its present form.’ The extra income that the government would receive by abolishing mortgage interest relief – in addition to lowering labour taxes – could be used to promote house building. The question is whether the new cabinet has the courage to introduce the necessary structural reforms. ‘Often, people daren’t even mention mortgage interest relief. There’s a lot of - often unnecessary - scaremongering surrounding the subject.’
Nitrogen problem
Rogier Kegge is a legal expert and he teaches at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law. He believes the major issue of the housing crisis is the nitrogen problem. ‘For years we’ve had an enormous nitrogen overload. That means that our Natura 2000 regions are almost all in a poor state. The Habitat Directive forces us to take effective measures to halt the deterioration of the natural environment. Nonetheless, there has been almost a complete standstill on this issue.’
'Nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands are largely caused by livestock farming,’ Kegge believes. ‘Something will first have to be done about this to make new building projects possible.’
Earlier attempts, such as the Nitrogen Action Programme (PAS), failed because the measures were too uncertain and the ‘nitrogen benefit couldn’t be factored in’. According to Kegge, this was mainly because technical measures proved to be much less effective than expected, or were even based on techniques that don’t exist yet. Effective measures are politically sensitive and so far have not been forthcoming.
Besides the nitrogen problem, Kegge also sees that in the past ten years there has been little direction from the state on house building. ‘Under liberal leadership, the housing corporations were given a different role. They had to sell a part of their rental housing and start to operate commercially. We’re now reversing that. To build social housing for the lower and middle segment, you need strong housing corporations, both financially and for land ownership.’
Squatter movement
Bart van der Steen is a historian and he researches the squatter movement and other protest movements. ‘The government distanced itself from the housing market for some time, which is how this situation was able to develop. Now, even the VVD recognises that the government has to play a bigger role. This is a break with almost 25 years of neoliberal policy.’
Van der Steen observes that the large-scale demonstrations and protests against the housing crisis have been very successful. ‘The housing crisis was for some time an apolitical and taboo theme. Now almost every political party believes it is a problem that has to be dealt with.’ Unlike in the 1970s and 1980s, this turnaround has taken place without squatter actions and riots. ‘Activism in its present form is definitely worthwhile.’
Citizen pressure and stable government
Van der Steen is thinking of lighthearted, disruptive or humorous forms of activism. ‘The goal is to get politicians thinking: this is an issue that we haven’t got a proper answer to. Maybe we’d better just do what they are suggesting.’
Van der Steen has researched urban improvement in Leiden in the 1970s and 1980s, a period that he regards as a good parallel for today’s housing problems. He stresses that the success at that time came from the powerful combination of citizen pressure and responsive, stable government. ‘There is too much instability in national politics today. We are ready for new voices in politics, that are firmly committed to house building and renovation in the medium term.’