Paul de Lange
by Paul de Lange
In 2020 we wrote an article about the Netherlands’ new environment and planning act (omgevingswet) that would enter into force on 01 January 2022. The current schedule of this multi-billion euro legal project indicates it will enter into force on 01 January 2023, but we expect the start date to be postponed once again. The main difficulty is the readiness of the digital system to view areas designations and applicable rules of the zoning plan.
Currently the zoning plans (which can be viewed on www.ruimtelijkeplannen.nl) allocate functions to locations. The current zoning plans contain mainly rules about property designations, such as: residential or retail; building regulations containing the length, width and height of buildings; and rules about the use of properties.
Future zoning plans (Omgevingsplan) will contain more decentralised rules. Not only will the future zoning plans contain building regulations and designations of properties, but also regulations about all other environmental and planning aspects. Municipalities will be responsible for creating one zoning plan for their municipality, instead of the multiple zoning plans currently in use by individual municipalities. New zoning plans will make it possible to regulate more on a local level, the energy efficiency of buildings, the amount of noise certain industrial or entertainment functions can emit, air pollution, the pollution of soil, and the odour a certain property is allowed to emit.
The Dutch government has some restrictions regarding environmental aspects, but within these restrictions, municipalities can choose how strict or loose certain aspects will be enforced in their zoning plan. For certain activities, like recreational, retail, or catering industries there will not be any centralised regulations and municipalities will have to implement all regulations in their local zoning plan.
As a result developers will be confronted with a large number of different regulations per municipality. In order to decide where to develop, developers or real estate owners should therefore compare different municipalities and, depending on the type of project planned, they may find one municipality to be more suitable than another.
We expect that when the new environmental and planning act comes into force, it will be more difficult for developers to choose a suitable location for their projects because it will require more knowledge of the specific local regulations than before.
Paul de Lange, Associate, is part of the TK Real Estate and Property Development team. He is specialised in administrative, environmental, and zoning and planning law. He assists real estate developers with permits and buying and selling of real estate. Contact Paul.
GGI member firmTeekensKarstens advocaten notarissenLeiden, Alphen aan den Rijn, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsT: +31 71 535 80 00
Law Firm Services
TeekensKarstens advocaten notarissen (TK) provides clients with no-nonsense and high-quality legal advice and support in corporate and commercial matters.