The Dutch government’s multi billion-euro housing programme has failed to speed up construction or significantly increase the number of new homes, the national audit office has warned.

The office said on Tuesday that the €2.25 billion earmarked for boosting the supply of new housing over the past four years has had little impact on speeding up projects or expanding overall supply.

Caretaker housing minister Mona Keijzer, the office said, should reconsider the scheme or make major adjustments.

Local authorities can apply for Wbi subsidies to help them deliver “faster, more and more affordable” housing. But the audit office found projects that had been rejected for funding mostly went ahead anyway and construction delays were just as common in projects with government backing as those without.

Wbi-funded projects should begin within three years of receiving support, yet only 62% managed to meet that deadline. Legal appeals, environmental reviews and staff shortages remain the main obstacles, the audit office said, adding that “more public money is not the solution here.”

The one area where the Wbi has made a clear difference is affordability, the audit office said. Projects with government support contain a higher share of affordable homes than comparable schemes.

Keijzer has dismissed the audit office’s findings, arguing they were based on “flawed insights.” She said the comparison group of unsupported projects was too narrow and insisted the Wbi funding “has been essential to ensure that housing projects could get off the ground with enough affordable homes.”

Keijzer has set a target of building 100,000 new homes a year, but said it would be 2027 before that happens because of the time lag between getting permits and completing construction.