Judith Norbart: Without a compass, there is no course
Judith Norbart: Without a compass, there is no course
This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.
Social housing is groaning under a deluge of rules. Fragmented, detailed and constantly changing. Legislative hyperactivity without a compass does not lead to solutions, but to frustration and stagnation.
By Judith Norbart, Director, IVBN
There is no shortage of rules in our living environment, but unfortunately there is a lack of direction. New rules on building and rental policy and tax changes are being introduced at a rapid pace, driven by incidents, full of detailed regulations and without a systemic overview. This results in an approach that mainly feeds itself: rules that call for other rules, adjustments that require new exceptions. This is a paralysing system that has been described by the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Rli) as “system failure”: a lack of overview and an inability to work together effectively. This has not resulted in the housing shortage being resolved or reduced.
What is lacking is a coherent and predictable framework within which the market and government can reinforce each other. Policy has degenerated into a series of isolated initiatives, rather than a roadmap for structural improvement. Even signed agreements, such as those made at the National Housing Summit, offer no certainty. Agreements that are so fragile undermine the trust that is essential for successful cooperation. The complexity of the task at hand deserves the opposite.
The price of adhocracy
The consequences of responding to the various housing challenges in an ad hoc rather than a systematic manner are felt in every aspect of public housing. Municipalities are struggling to achieve their housing ambitions due to conflicting policy objectives. Developers and investors do not know where they stand and are therefore forced to come to a standstill.
People looking for housing who feel they are not being heard in debates about rents for homes they can hardly afford.
Time for direction, frameworks and choices
What is needed is a course that gives direction to policy, with clear frameworks within which governments, corporations and market parties can invest in long-term solutions. The National Housing Summit showed that cooperation is possible – provided that agreements prove to be sustainable. This requires political reliability, administrative stability and the courage to choose integration over incident-driven politics. As the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure recently emphasised, policy must be based on a shared vision of the future. Where do we want to be in thirty years' time – and how are we going to interact with each other? Sustainable cooperation can only come about if the government, the market and society once again see each other as allies. Not by constantly making new policies, but by understanding, improving and connecting existing policies.
Predictable and coherent policy is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for all stakeholders in public housing. This is necessary in order to deploy long-term capital, realise ambitions that go beyond a single policy period and, ultimately, to bring the housing stock up to standard. This starts with calm and structure – and the realisation that control is not about control, but about direction. By focusing less on details, implementing existing plans more effectively and opting for simplicity rather than complexity.
From system failure to system strength
The good news is that the solutions are within reach. We have parties willing to invest, we have the knowledge and expertise to implement, and there is a shared sense of urgency. But we must choose clarity over chaos, cooperation over fragmentation, and a stable investment climate over fiscal capriciousness. Only then will we take the step from regulatory reflex to decisive long-term choices. From system failure to system strength.