The government issued more than 15,000 building permits for new houses in the second quarter of 2022, but the number falls short of the cabinet’s goal to build 100,000 new homes this year.

According to new figures by the Dutch statistics office CBS, 15,200 permits for newly constructed homes were issued between April and June. Compared to the same period in 2021, the number of permits was down 27% but the CBS warns last year was unusually high. “The number of licensed new-build homes in the second quarter of 2022 is about the same as in the second quarter of 2020,” the organisation said in a statement.

Housing minister Hugo de Jonge pledged to build 100,000 homes in the Netherlands when he took up his position at the start of the year. If this trend continues, only around 50,000 will be built by the end of the year.

Property developers blame de Jonge for the slow pace. “The building plans are being throttled, among other things, by minister De Jonge’s rules, which work out exactly the wrong way,” Alfred Vos, CEO of VolkerWessels, the second-largest home builder in the Netherlands, told the Telegraaf. According to Vos, rent restrictions have made housing construction less appealing and the ongoing battle over nitrogen regulations has also created delays.