Housing corporations built some 25% fewer social housing units than expected last year and in 2021, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Thursday.

In 2021, non-profit housing corporations were responsible for some 16,000 new rent-controlled properties and the total is likely to be similar this year, the paper said.

This means the pace of new development has to be increased to meet government targets of 900,000 new homes by 2030. The government expects the corporations to build one third of the new housing.

The sector’s regulator Autoriteit Woningcorporaties described the figures as ‘disappointing for home hunters and tenants’ and called on housing corporations to give a better estimate of what they are likely to build in a given year.

This would enable the government to take more timely action, the AW said.

Private investors and developers are also building fewer new homes, citing government plans to increase rent controls and other financial issues.

Figures drawn up by real estate advisory group Capital Value in 2022 show that some 25,000 properties at the planning stage are either being delayed or cancelled – around a third of the new homes realised in the average year.