Heerlen is building a strong and stable city with three new residential pillars

We want to keep our young people in our neighborhoods. Then an attractive residential and living environment with the right and sufficient housing is important. This also applies to our professionals who work in Heerlen but cannot find suitable housing here. For them we will build. We also need more working people to keep our facilities alive. They must also come here to live and participate in local society.

Now too many neighborhoods are under pressure. Heerlen is answering the cries of the heart heard in many neighborhoods. Old and cheap houses attract vulnerable families from all over the Netherlands to Heerlen. At the same time, many Heerlen residents who have built their lives here are leaving. For example: In Heerlen-North, there were as many as 32,000 moves in ten years, in an area with 56,000 residents. In fact, of the people with Social assistance benefit who move to Heerlen, 34 percent come from outside Limburg.
This leads to streets where neighbors no longer know each other, schools where children are gone after a few years, and communities with major problems. Because of all these moves, social and economic investments have less impact.

Invest

At least 7,000 housing units will be built in the coming years. New housing will be spread throughout the city, according to the principle of "mixing without crowding. Existing homes will be made more sustainable and life-cycle-proof. To this end, a unique Housing Fund (11 million euros) will be established in which public and private resources will come together.

Cherish

Too many working Heerlen residents are leaving the city because there is no suitable housing for them. There are also many people who work here but do not live here. That is why Park City residents and people with crucial professions-such as health care workers, teachers and police officers-will be given priority in housing allocation from now on. This is also supported by major employers.
Medlands: "As Medlands Parkstad, we believe in a region where talent not only works, but also likes to live. The direction of the municipality of Heerlen to give priority to suitable housing with crucial occupations, such as in our sector, hits exactly that core. This is what we, what Heerlen and what the region needs in order to grow together."

Zuyderland also supports the new plans. They can help reduce staff shortages at the hospital. To further strengthen these plans, they are launching national campaigns to recruit new staff in the coming months. The goal is to bring 30 specialized nurses to Heerlen. With the help of the new Heerlen policy, they will be offered not only a job, but also housing.

Regulate

Heerlen is the municipality with the lowest socioeconomic position in the Netherlands. That is why the city is working hard to catch up for an entire generation. But that battle has little effect as long as poverty continues to congregate in certain neighborhoods. A vast majority of the people who come to Heerlen on Social assistance benefit benefits are not from the region. Over a third even come from outside Limburg. This creates neighborhoods with a lot of poverty and a lot of removals. To reduce the pressure, Heerlen is going to better regulate the influx of vulnerable households from outside Parkstad into 19 neighborhoods. This is done through the Special Measures Metropolitan Problem Act (Wbmgp). Requirements are: an income from work (with the exception of students and pensioners) and no history of residential nuisance.

Strong together

The three pillars rest on the previously established Heerlen Housing Fundament. Not only the municipality, but also the partners of the National Program Heerlen-North and the City Region Parkstad support this approach. Together we work on neighborhoods that are more stable, where children get more opportunities and where residents feel connected to their neighborhood again.

"Heerlen is making a historic choice today," says Alderman Wonen Casper Gelderblom. "With a new Woonfonds we are investing in a balanced housing supply, and we cherish our own residents as well as newcomers who strengthen our city by organizing priority for rental housing. In neighborhoods that are under pressure, we will definitively break through concentrations of poverty by regulating vulnerable relocations from outside Parkstad from now on. Together with all our partners, we are thus building a Heerlen where children can grow up healthy and safe, supported by strong and stable communities." 

Alderman Jaimy van Dijk indicated, "With the application for the Wbmgp, Heerlen is sending a signal that is supported by the entire Parkstad region."