The government’s focus on small, short-term housing as a solution for the massive homes shortage in the Netherlands is short-sighted and fails to take people’s needs into account, according to a new report by Dutch environmental assessment agency PBL.

“Only a limited proportion of home hunters are explicitly looking for a small house,” says spokeswoman Jolien Groot. “Relatively few people who live in such small homes are satisified with their housing, and many move to something bigger within a few years.”

Previous housing minister Hugo de Jonge and his successor Mona Keijzer have both made boosting the housing stock by 100,000 homes a year a priority. A large proportion of those should be so-called “flex homes”, small temporary housing units that can be easily placed and repurposed later.

But building these properties also requires permits and connections to water, trains and electricity – as any home does, the PBL points out.

The locations too are proving a problem. In some places, sports fields or parts of parks have been given up for temporary homes, which has generated much opposition from locals.

The homes are also small, with an average size of 20 to 30 square metres. Even though the number of single-person households is increasing, that does not mean small housing units are popular, the agency says.

“The focus on small homes means there is less focus on building larger units,” Groot told the Telegraaf. “Single people too want a home of between 50 and 100 square metres, like larger households. And they will stay living in them for longer.”

Some 5,000 “flex homes” were erected last year and some 8,000 will be added this year, according to housing ministry figures. The average home in the Netherlands is around 120 square metres.

The agency says the Netherlands has 482,000 homes which can be classed as “small” and 80% of their inhabitants are under the age of 30.