High commodity prices a blow to builders
- Economy
During the pandemic, construction firms have been able to continue building houses. But that doesn’t mean these firms are not affected. Commodity prices have risen steeply, for instance. Not to mention the tight labour market. This combination is seriously pushing up building costs.
Meanwhile, the sector is also struggling with the aftermath of the nitrogen crisis. Growth in 2020 and 2021 was far slower than in previous years, with far fewer building permits being issued. As a consequence, building production has hardly picked up over 2021. Now that Dutch Parliament has passed the Nitrogen Emissions Reduction and Restoration of theNatural Environment Act, the outlook for residential and utilities construction has significantly improved.
The outlook is less optimistic for the civil engineering sector, however. Here, issues with nitrogen are still causing delays, especially for road construction projects.