‘Luxury takes time. We don’t have time’: The former top military officer on a mission to fix the Dutch housing crisis

Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan plans to simplify the housebuilding process to tackle shortage of 400,000 homes Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan is on a mission. The new housing minister of the Netherlands is charged with building 100,000 homes a year and breaking through a planning deadlock to combat one of Europe’s worst housing crises. The Irish-born 50-year-old is new to politics. Until a fortnight ago she was the country’s top female military officer, famous for getting flak jackets redesigned for women’s bodies and holding her own in a male-dominated sphere. Now she is clear. With a shortage of 400,000 homes, average house prices of almost €500,000 and a growing population, the country must build like it did after the second world war – and be prepared to make some compromises along the way. “What I take from working in defence is that you keep your eye on the ball,” Boekholt-O’Sullivan, from the liberal-progressive D66 party that now leads the coalition government, said. “The homes have to be built: that is the primary need right now. Luxury takes time, and we do not have time.” Many European countries are struggling with shortages of affordable housing, with pu