Cushman & Wakefield Launches Housing Market Voting Guide
AMSTERDAM, 21 October 2025 – No political party fully complies with the new Spatial Planning Policy and opens the housing market to all buyer groups. This is the conclusion of an analysis by Cushman & Wakefield, which compares party platforms on spatial frameworks and market access for investors, housing associations, and buyers. With this voting guide, Cushman & Wakefield aims to provide insight into how political choices shape the housing market through 2050.
In the run-up to the elections on October 29, political parties recognize the housing shortage as a national crisis and all claim to want to accelerate construction. However, Cushman & Wakefield's comparison shows that parties strictly adhering to the Spatial Planning Policy often impose restrictions on investors, while market-friendly parties abandon spatial discipline. This results in a tension between planning and market, policy and investor.
Roel Timmermans, Head of Living at Cushman & Wakefield Netherlands, says: "Our analysis shows that no party unites all objectives, while the choices are not about either spatial frameworks or market access. The challenge is so great that both are needed: maintaining planned control and providing space for all buyer groups. Only a coalition willing to connect these interests can accelerate the construction of 1.6 million homes. Without that political will, structural solutions remain an illusion."
Political Choices Determine Building Locations and Who May Buy
Along the fault line between planning and market, the classic left-right divide also emerges. Parties to the left of center align well with the Spatial Planning Policy, emphasizing densification, sustainability, and control. At the same time, they impose such strict conditions on buyers and investors that the feasibility of their plans comes under pressure.
To the right of center, the tone is more market-friendly: there is more room for private and institutional investors, less regulation, and fiscal incentives for home ownership. But spatial discipline is looser, creating the risk that homes will not be built where the Netherlands needs them most.
Deze tegenstelling maakt de verkiezingen van 29 oktober tot een cruciaal moment voor de woningmarkt. Kiezers stemmen niet alleen over hoeveel er gebouwd moet worden, maar vooral over waar en voor wie. De analyse van Cushman & Wakefield laat zien dat politieke keuzes directe gevolgen hebben voor de locatie, het tempo en de toegankelijkheid van woningbouw tot 2050.
"On October 29, voters cannot vote for a party that both fully meets the spatial requirements of the Spatial Planning Policy and fully opens the housing market to all buyer groups," says Timmermans. "That combination is missing from every election program. Thus, a vote for a political party also becomes a choice between control and space, and between planning and market forces. For many voters, this is a difficult, if not impossible, choice. Those who want to build in the right place and ensure access for everyone will have to hope for a coalition willing and able to connect both interests."
Methodology
De toetsing is gebaseerd op de nieuwe Nota Ruimte, het beleidskader dat vastlegt waar, wat en hoe gebouwd mag worden. Dit nationale ruimtelijke kader bepaalt de richting van woningbouw tot 2050 en koppelt deze aan energie, infrastructuur, water en natuur.
The election programs were assessed for their level of compliance with the Spatial Planning Policy based on the following key points:
- Concentratie van woningbouw bij stationslocaties en binnenstedelijke verdichting.
- Multiple land use: combining living, working, energy, and nature.
- Energy infrastructure: reserving space for grid reinforcement and sustainable generation.
- Water and soil policy: building in safe locations, climate adaptation.Beperk ruimteclaims door slimme integratie van landbouw, defensie en industrie.
Daarnaast is gekeken naar de mate van marktvrijheid per kopersgroep: particuliere en institutionele beleggers, corporaties en eigenaar-gebruikers. De uitkomsten zijn visueel weergegeven in een kleurentabel, waarbij donkergroen staat voor volledige toegang en donkerrood voor uitgesloten kopersgroepen.
