Housing still affordable

ASML expects to need 5,500 new employees within five years to grow sales by 10 billion euros. This is news from Veldhoven that affects all the municipalities in the region. Because 5,500 jobs at ASML also mean at least 5,500 new jobs at suppliers in the region. All those new employees cannot all be found in the region. They come from all over the country, all over Europe, all over the world. And they all want to live somewhat closer to Veldhoven. That means even more pressure on the already overheated regional housing market.

You can look at it in several ways. You can see those new employees as competitors for the house hunters who have been living in the region for years. You can also see them as people we need to keep our region economically vital and excelling. But no matter how you look at it, their arrival and their housing needs are probably a reality that we have to face. It only makes the need for new housing construction on a large scale greater and more urgent. It requires national funds to enable ambitious building plans in the city and region and to improve the infrastructure (roads, public transport, green spaces). But political courage is also needed in the region to implement existing building plans quickly and to dust off plans that were once shelved and prepare them with new momentum.

Such courage is also needed to cut the knot when objections are raised. And there are always objections, because almost everyone considers housing to be important, but preferably not behind their own backyard, or in a place where beavers could settle, or in a place that takes away the view of the church. Especially in densification plans in built-up areas, but also in green areas, the procedures are often enormously delaying. Of course, everyone should be able to make their objections known, but then elected politicians must weigh interests against each other and then make a decision, without this then being able to be delayed endlessly. Unfortunately, the politicians – certainly in The Hague – are not really giving a good example of speed at the moment. But the many house hunters would benefit from this.