Policies & regulations for subsidence

Responsibility for policy areas connected to land subsidence is spread across several parts of the national government, reflecting the range of sectors it affects. Rural infrastructure falls under the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, greenhouse gas emissions under the Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth, the built environment under the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, and nature and agricultural land under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature. Regional water authorities are responsible for managing groundwater levels, which directly affects the rate of subsidence.

At present, there is no single national regulation governing how land subsidence should be addressed, and practices vary by municipality. This is expected to change for the built environment with the introduction of a national residual settlement standard, which will set one uniform limit on how much a building may still settle after construction, replacing the current patchwork of municipal rules.

Non-binding policy

Several non-binding frameworks currently guide decision-making. The water and soil guiding in spatial planning approach (water en bodem sturend in Dutch) calls for water and soil conditions to be treated as a starting point for spatial planning, rather than adapted to fit human land use afterwards. To support this, the government has developed a Spatial Assessment Framework for a Climate-Adaptive Built Environment, which among other factors in expected land subsidence when assessing whether an area is suitable for development.

Separately, the National Approach on Foundation Issues, led by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, focuses on improving knowledge of foundation problems, particularly for homes with wooden pile or shallow foundations. It also supports municipalities, housing corporations, and professionals through research, transparency, and awareness. Alongside this, the Sustainable Foundation Repair Fund offers tailored loans to homeowners who cannot otherwise finance urgent foundation repairs, helping to prevent further deterioration.

Knowledge networks and research programmes

Several national programmes have been set up to advance research on the policies and regulations for subsidence. The Living on Soft Soils programme researches the causes, mechanisms, and management of subsidence in peat and clay regions, in collaboration with universities, research institutes, and societal partners. The Kennis Centrum Aanpak Funderingsproblematiek acts as a national helpdesk for homeowners, offering guidance on foundation research, repair, financing, and prevention, alongside tools such as its QuickScan risk assessment and a register of repaired properties. The Kenniscentrum Bodemdaling en Funderingen takes a broader view, connecting knowledge on subsidence and foundation issues across infrastructure and buildings to support homeowners, professionals, and policymakers alike. Platform Slappe Bodem brings together local and regional authorities to raise awareness of subsidence and embed it across policy areas, aiming for coordinated, evidence-based decision-making over the medium to long term. Since 2019, the National Research Programme on Greenhouse Gases in Peat Meadow Areas has researched how measures to reduce subsidence affect greenhouse gas emissions. The Knowledge Programme on the Effects of Mining researchers the effects of mining activities in the Netherlands, including subsidence. Finally, the DeepNL programme studies how human activities such as gas, geothermal, and salt extraction, and underground storage, affect the deep subsurface, strengthening the wider Dutch research community in this field.