Some 25 of the Netherlands’ 400 plus local authority areas may come under the extra supervision of their provincial government because of losses incurred on land sales, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

Eight councils, including Apeldoorn, are already under provincial supervision. This means they have to seek approval from the province for all major expenditure.
A further 25 may now be in the same position, Gerber van Nijendaal, from the cabinet’s local authority financial council, told the paper. He estimates losses from land sales reached €4.5bn by the end of last year, due to the downturn in the construction sector.