New housing construction law aims to significantly increase the pace of building: what does this mean for you?

The Act on Strengthening the Management of Social Housing (Wvrv) came into force on 1 July 2026. Under this Act, the government is taking more decisive action in the housing market. The reason for this is the persistent housing shortage of almost 400,000 homes; to make up for this shortfall, 100,000 new homes would need to be built each year. Whereas the market has largely been left to its own devices until now, the central government, provinces and local authorities are now being given more legal tools to jointly steer housing construction. The Act will, incidentally, come into force in phases: various sections and implementing regulations still need to be further elaborated in the coming period. For anyone involved in the property sector – such as developers, investors, local authorities and private owners – it is useful to know in advance what changes are coming.

Greater guidance and clear housing targets

The Act requires the central government, provinces and local authorities to each draw up a social housing programme, setting out how many homes are to be built, where, and for which target groups. The guiding principle is that two-thirds of new-build homes in a region must be affordable, with at least 30 per cent of these being social housing. This is intended to ensure a more balanced housing stock, with sufficient supply for, for example, first-time buyers, older people and students.

Municipalities remain primarily responsible for identifying sufficient building sites and achieving the construction targets. If they fail to do so, the provincial authorities or central government will not stand idly by: they can then determine for themselves where construction is to take place and enforce this. This effectively shifts responsibility significantly higher up the administrative ladder as soon as insufficient progress is made at local level.

Faster procedures

A key change in practice is the acceleration of legal procedures relating to housing development projects. A streamlined process will soon apply to a group of projects to be specified in due course. Essentially, this means that you will only be able to appeal to one court instead of two, that the court must, in principle, reach a decision within six months, and that the case will be given priority. Furthermore, you will no longer be able to put forward new arguments after the appeal period has expired, and a brief judgment will be issued in the event of a futile appeal. In addition, you will soon be able to apply directly to the court for an environmental permit for housing construction, without the intermediate step of an objection procedure. It is also provided that one local authority will no longer be able to block a building order issued by another local authority via an appeal procedure, although this provision has not yet come into force as of 1 July 2026.

The so-called ‘Ladder for Sustainable Urbanisation’ will also be abolished as a criterion for housing development sites. In practice, this mainly means less preliminary research and documentation, and therefore a shorter lead time before a building plan can be finalised.

Longer validity of right of first refusal, higher court fees

Municipalities will also be given more time to finalise their plans: the municipal right of first refusal, which allows a municipality to be the first to purchase a plot of land, will no longer expire after three years but after five years. Furthermore, lodging an appeal against housing development decisions will eventually become more expensive: court fees will rise to €500 for private individuals and €1,000 for, for example, businesses and interest groups, in order to discourage the frivolous use of appeal procedures. This increase has not yet come into force as of 1 July 2026, to allow the courts time to prepare for it.

What does this mean in practice?

The combination of greater central control, clear objectives and faster procedures should ensure greater predictability and fewer delays in housing development projects. As less investigation is required and appeal procedures take less time, projects can start sooner and be finalised more quickly. This is good news for those wishing to build, but it also means that, as a party involved in a project, you will need to act more swiftly if you disagree with a decision.

Do you have a specific project where you’d like to know what this Act means for you, or do you want to find out whether your plans qualify for an accelerated procedure? Please feel free to contact us; we’d be happy to help you work through the options.