Developers completed some 73,000 new homes last year, well below the government’s target of 100,000 and fewer than in 2022, national statistics agency CBS said on Wednesday.

But next year the total number of completions will fall still further, because fewer permits were handed out in 2021, the CBS said. It takes an average of two years from permit to completion.

Most new homes – 17,000 – were completed in Zuid-Holland province, followed by Noord-Brabant (12,000) and Noord-Holland (almost 11,000). Of the Noord-Holland new homes, 4,500 were in Amsterdam.

By contrast, just 1,300 new homes came on the market in Drenthe.

Including conversions and repurposing other buildings, the number of housing units in the Netherlands has gone up to 8.3 million units, the CBS said.

Caretaker housing minister Hugo de Jonge told MPs in a briefing he expects the total number of new housing units last year to reach over 90,000 but that he expects a “dip” in 2024 and 2025.

And although the sales of new-build property are rising and costs have stabilised, more permits need to be handed out, he said. “We really need that to get the pipeline of building projects up to speed again,” he said.

Developers have been putting new housing projects on ice because of the costs, government rules on the percentage of social housing and uncertainty about the increase in rent controls.

According to research carried out on behalf of the home affairs ministry, there are plans to build 1,075,000 new homes in the Netherlands between 2022 and 2030 – in line with government targets. Nevertheless, some of these may be delayed or cancelled altogether, the minister told MPs.