Why can’t we build enough houses. Reasons for scarcity of houses in the Netherlands.
There are many factors that have an influence on the supply of housing in the Netherlands.
Firstly, Land scarcity is an issue in most of the country. Housing shortages are mainly an issue
in cities, where land is scarce and expensive. This is related to a second issue, which is that
construction is expensive. The scarcity of land and the prices of labor and construction
materials make it difficult to build affordable housing. Even for housing associations, who do not
have profit as a goal for new development, struggle with costs of newly constructed houses,
increasingly so due to rent regulations; resulting in lower returns and tax policies. This also
affects private investors who could develop new houses to let.