Our operations put us firmly at the centre of society. Demographic, economic, environmental, technological and political developments have a direct impact on our business operations. Identifying trends and responding to them in good time allows us to remain agile and create sustainable value.
2025 was a year marked by unrest and change. Geopolitical tensions, climate issues and a political and governmental sphere in which consistent policies came under pressure affected consumer and client confidence. At the same time, these developments created volatility in commodity prices and put pressure on purchasing power and cost structures within the sector. A new cabinet will soon be in place, however. This presents an opportunity for greater coherence, drive and collaboration to ensure that the necessary breakthroughs can be made and confidence in the market can be increased.
The economic outlook is cautiously optimistic, but the challenge for the construction sector remains a significant one – contributing to an accessible, affordable and sustainable Netherlands within the limits set by the environment, space and the available capacity. This calls for different choices and smarter collaboration. At the same time, it presents opportunities, as the need for modernisation encourages innovation, accelerates sustainability and increases the social relevance of our sector.
Property market finally reopens
The housing market remained under huge pressure in 2025. Demand for housing increased due to the growth in population, the ageing population and the shrinking size of families, while production lagged behind.
The Netherlands needs around 100,000 new homes every year, yet this target was clearly missed with around 77,000 delivered in 2025. Complex procedures for permits, partly due to persistent issues around nitrogen and limited planning capacity, higher construction costs and staff shortages at local authorities, caused delays. The call for two-thirds of buildings to be affordable also placed additional pressure on the feasibility of projects, particularly in the case of inner-city developments. At the same time, house prices rose again while demand remained structurally high. Heijmans sees opportunities in industrialisation, modularisation and collaboration to take a faster, smarter and more affordable approach to construction – and therefore contribute to housing stock that is ready for the future.
Repairing and updating infrastructure
Updating the Dutch infrastructure in 2025 required accelerated and large-scale investments. Bridges, roads and locks from the post-war period are coming to the end of their lifecycle. The Ministry of Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) has allocated billions to projects on the market and is working together with market players within the Replacement & Renovation Platform to take a smarter approach to organising tenders, including through 'train tenders' that reduce tender costs, optimise implementation, create a learning curve and encourage modular services. The Ministry of Defence is also investing heavily in modernising its property and infrastructure to improve its state of readiness. Heijmans makes a contribution here with innovative, modular and circular construction methods, aiming to provide more efficient implementation and lower emissions. The task is complicated by tight implementation capacity and limited opportunities to adapt, which is partly down to the ambition to achieve the climate targets.
Sustainability transitions in the built environment
The built environment faces several interrelated sustainability challenges. Climate change, scarcity of raw materials, and pressure on nature and biodiversity require adjustments to policy, regulation and implementation. Such developments have a direct impact on the construction sector and increasingly determine the framework conditions within which projects come to fruition.
Climate targets and reducing CO2 emissions
Reducing CO2e emissions remains an urgent challenge in society. According to the 2025 Climate and Energy Survey, the current measures suggest the Netherlands is heading for a reduction of 45% to 53% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The construction sector plays an important role in this transition. By using sustainable materials, reusing materials and applying emission-free work processes, the sector can achieve additional CO2e reductions by 2030 on top of the government's measures to reduce CO2e emissions in the utilisation phase.
Dealing with water
In 2025, the issue of water was more urgent than ever before. A dry spring meant the year was ranked in the top five per cent of dry years on record. At the same time, climate change is causing more extreme precipitation, higher water levels and increasing pressure on water quality and the supply of drinking water. The government is working hard on the National Water Programme 2028-2033, which focuses on water safety, the availability of freshwater and climate adaptation. In the coming years, the Netherlands will also invest billions in dyke reinforcement and climate-resilient water management. For the construction sector, this means stricter requirements and new opportunities: projects must take water balance, infiltration and adaptive measures into account. Heijmans can add value in this area with smart, sustainable solutions for a climate-resistant living environment.
Circularity and scarcity of raw materials
The transition to a circular economy continued in 2025, but progress is lagging behind national targets. The use of raw materials continues to increase (source: Integral Circular Economy Report 2025), while market demand for circular products is showing limited growth. As one of the largest clients, the government plays an important role in encouraging the transition through its calls for tenders for projects. The construction sector subsequently plays a key role in this transition through reusing materials, modular construction and using biobased raw materials. Heijmans applies circular principles in design and implementation and ensures material flows are transparent in order to reduce emissions and dependency on primary raw materials.
Biodiversity and nature-inclusive construction
The pressure on biodiversity remained high in 2025. Despite slight improvements in the types of nature such as freshwater, swamps and forests, the Netherlands is still failing to meet almost all of the fourteen goals set by the National Biodiversity Dashboard. As part of the National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan 2025-2030, the government is translating international agreements from Montreal into national measures, with an emphasis on restoring nature, reducing the nitrogen pressure and improving green spaces in the living environment.
In February 2025, the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning announced that nesting facilities will once again be legally embedded in the Building Decree, an important step for species protection. Heijmans continues to make an active commitment to nature-inclusive construction and strengthening biodiversity in and around projects as part of a healthy, future-proof living environment. We also use the value of nature as a natural (or non-artificial) solution in many projects, while we remain aware of the potential negative impact of our activities on biodiversity.
Nitrogen and allocation of permits
The issue of nitrogen continued to be a restrictive factor when implementing new projects in 2025. Following a ruling of the Council of State at the end of 2024, a nature permit remained a requirement for many new-build projects. The government is now working on a new legislative framework that is no longer based on nitrogen precipitation, but on emissions targets for each sector. This should create more room for developments within the ecological limits. The construction sector still accounts for less than one per cent of the total nitrogen deposition, but is suffering significant negative consequences from being required to hold a permit. Heijmans carries out AERIUS calculations (mapping out the nitrogen impact of a project) for all relevant projects and takes measures to limit emissions during the construction phase where necessary. Structural progress requires a clear legislative framework and an effective source-based approach by the government.
Scarcity on the electricity grid
Pressure on the Dutch electricity grid continued to rise in 2025. The rapid growth of electrification in mobility, industry and residential builds is leading to increasing grid congestion and longer waiting times for connections. This in turn hinders both the energy transition and the progress of construction projects. Grid operators are investing billions in expanding and improving the energy infrastructure and developing solutions such as smart grid control and time-based tariffs to better spread its use. At the same time, demand for charging infrastructure, emission-free equipment and an emission-free built environment — driven, for example, by the growth in heat pumps and electric vehicles — is increasing faster than grid capacity allows, causing delays to projects and in rolling out charging facilities. A structural expansion of the main and regional grids is necessary to enable the transition to a zero-emission economy. The first residential projects without a grid connection are in the pipeline, and are preventing buyers from moving into their future homes and further perpetuating the challenges seen on the housing market.
Labour market remains tight
Increasing tightness in the labour market continued to be a focal point in the construction sector in 2025. The availability of skilled workers and experienced project professionals lagged behind demand, while demand for replacement workers continued to rise. It is estimated that around 60,000 new employees will be needed by 2028 to meet this demand. At the same time, construction firms have focused on investing in measures to cope with this shortage in recent years, focusing on retaining and training staff, making working in the sector more attractive, and smarter deployment of capacity through automation, digitalisation and standardisation. Clients are also seeking to select partners earlier and enjoy closer cooperation in the value chain, both of which can secure capacity and knowledge in a timely manner and enable projects to be set up more efficiently.
Changing legal and regulatory requirements
Legislation and regulations continued to develop throughout 2025 and have a direct impact on construction practices. After its first implementation in 2024, we worked on developing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) further in 2025. The Netherlands has submitted a legislative proposal to transpose the European sustainability reporting requirements on people, environment and governance into national legislation. At the same time, the European Commission is working on proposals to simplify and phase in parts of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
The Quality Assurance (Building Sector) Act (WKB) has applied to simple new-builds since 2024, but its extension to include renovations has been postponed on a temporary basis. Furthermore, amendments have been made to the Buildings and Living Environment Decree (BBL), including for permit obligations and safety requirements. These developments emphasise the importance of a stable, predictable policy so as to be able to build in an efficient, safe and sustainable manner. We have also seen the amount of legislation and regulations increase in recent years, which makes projects more complex and more expensive.
Digitalisation
Digitalisation has evolved at a rapid pace. AI and data-driven working are becoming increasingly decisive for productivity, quality and predictability in construction. Generative AI and digital twins are the next logical step after BIM, and increasingly allow buildings and infrastructure to be designed, monitored and subject to predictive control using digital tools. Digitalisation is also on the rise on building sites, with apps, drones and sensors providing real-time insights to improve the collaboration and make work safer and more efficient. What's more, the use of autonomous and electric machines is growing, partly due to the tight labour market and stricter requirements around emissions. European regulations and subsidies are also boosting this development through requirements to register CO2e emissions, circularity and more. As a result, the sector is moving towards a more professional, data-driven and value chain-oriented way of working.
For the construction sector, this represents a fundamental step towards a more manageable, scalable production process. Digital integration enables failure costs to be reduced, schedules to be better predicted, and scarce resources in terms of people and materials to be used in a more targeted manner. In an increasingly complex market, the ability to connect data, processes and chains is becoming increasingly important for competitiveness, risk management and successful tendering processes. The growing dependency on data and AI requires robust governance around cybersecurity, data quality and the responsible use of technology.
These developments form the basis for our strategic decisions.