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> The Dutch government basically tried to completely neo-liberate our housing market. So are the regulatory costs related to building new housing very low comp
by AlchemistCamp 3y ago
> The Dutch government basically tried to completely neo-liberate our housing market.
So are the regulatory costs related to building new housing very low compared to someplace like Texas or Florida, then? If so, and if there’s clearly a lot of demand, why aren’t small Dutch businesses cashing in on the opportunity by building units at a rapid clip like their counterparts in Texas are?
For example, look at what Austin has done in a decade: https://x.com/documentingatx/status/1764631328723460247 https://x.com/documentingatx/status/1764631328723460247
- jorvi 3y agoAustin has a population density of 1200/km2. Amsterdam sits at 5300/km2. We also have massively higher quality urban planning than basically anywhere in the world, especially the US. Check the YouTube channel NotJustBikes, who coincidentally actually moved here from Texas. I agree that build build build is the solution, but “just kill regulation and let the market fix it lol” doesn’t work. We tried that for the past 15 years and it has been an utter disaster. Even if we somehow stripped all but the barest safety regulations, all it would do is increase profit margin for speculators because there is a limited amount of constructions workers, and a bottleneck for training new workers. One thing in terms of Dutch zoning regulations I do have a seething hatred for is the stymying of high rises. It might preserve the quaint old European city atmosphere for tourists but it is making a terrible housing problem even worse.