€2 Million to Speed Up Housing in Groningen
Groningen province allocates €2M via the Flexpool scheme to help all ten municipalities hire staff and speed up the construction of 28,500 homes, two-thirds of which must be affordable.
To help tackle the housing shortage in Groningen, the province is distributing over two million euros across its ten municipalities through the Flexpool scheme, which supports local governments in speeding up residential construction and redevelopment projects.
The Flexpool scheme allows municipalities to hire external personnel or temporarily redeploy staff to fast-track housing initiatives. This financial boost is especially useful for smaller municipalities that may lack the capacity to keep up with growing housing demands.
Equal Distribution for Equal Opportunity
Unlike earlier editions of the scheme, this third round features a simplified distribution model: each municipality receives an equal share of the funding, with no co-financing required. According to Provincial Executive Pascal Roemers, this change was made after feedback revealed that the application process was time-consuming, especially for smaller municipalities. "Now every municipality gets a fair chance to move forward," said Roemers.
The total budget includes:
€1 million from the national government (granted in December 2024)
€1 million from the province of Groningen
€160,000 leftover from the previous round
Addressing a Critical Housing Need
The province has committed to building 28,500 new homes by 2030, around two-thirds of which must be affordable. This is part of a broader national effort to ease the housing crisis in the Netherlands. Groningen’s housing challenge mirrors a nationwide trend: high demand for affordable homes, long waiting lists, and staffing shortages that delay planning and permitting processes.
What the Flexpool Covers
The fund can be used not just for standard housing, but also to support special living arrangements, like homes for the elderly or people who need extra care. The scheme covers staff hiring, consultancy, and project management resources crucial in the early phases of development.
A Nationwide Model
The Flexpool model was first introduced nationally in 2022 to help under-resourced municipalities catch up with housing demands. Since then, it has been adopted in several provinces, including Drenthe, Friesland, and South Holland, with each tailoring the scheme to regional needs.
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) describes the Flexpool as “a temporary instrument to enable municipal acceleration of housing construction by reinforcing capacity where it is lacking.” According to rijksoverheid.nl, the scheme has helped dozens of municipalities launch or scale up projects that otherwise would have been delayed.