Netherlands' increased Defense spending putting further pressure on housing construction

Image Construction site with buildings under construction in Nijmegen, 8 February 2023 - Credit: photosis / DepositPhotos - License: DepositPhotos Business ABN Amro Bouwend Nederland Ministry of Defense defense spending housing shortage housing construction construction industry staff shortage Arno Visser Adrian Collien » More tags « Less tags Thursday, 9 April 2026 - 09:10 Share this article: Netherlands' increased Defense spending putting further pressure on housing construction The Netherlands’ additional investment in the Armed Forces will put further pressure on housing construction, ABN Amro warns. The construction industry is already facing staff shortages, and Defense expansion will compete with housing construction for the available staff, AD reports. The Dutch government has earmarked billions in extra funds for Defense in the coming years for expansion. This includes building more barracks, training grounds, and other military infrastructure. That will require the same contractors, engineers, and installers that are also needed for housing construction, infrastructure maintenance, and the expansion of the electricity grid, ABN Amro economist Adrian Collien told AD. “17,000 to 19,000 extra workers are needed annually until 2030 for all construction tasks,” Collien said.Because that personnel is not available, the Ministry of Defense’s construction plans will put even more pressure on the “already tight construction labor market.” Successive governments have set t...