A Brief Commentary on Value Capture Under theNew Environment and Planning Act of the Netherlands

In this paper, we discuss value capture under the Netherlands’ new Environment and Planning Act. This law has been in force since 2024 and brings some changes to the way value capture is regulated, compared to the old regime under the Spatial Planning Act (2008). In the Netherlands, there are four main ways of value capturing: through land sale, through ground rent, through an agreement and through the rules of a physical environment plan/permit. If the land is owned by local government, which sells the land to a developer, value capturing takes place via the sales price (in case of property) or ground rent (in case of ground lease) which is charged to lessees. In case the developer owns the land, value capturing takes place via private law (an agreement) or public law (cost recovery rules in the physical environment plan or environmental permit). After a discussion of the system of value capture under the Environment and Planning Act (EPA), authors discuss successively the public law and private law tracks of value capture. The discussion of the legal framework and the two main tracks is followed by a brief description of examples found in planning practice in the Netherlands. This is followed by a discussion section where we address successively: positive and critical features of the Dutch system of value capturing; and a brief comparison with the value capture system in other countries. At the end of this paper, we reflect on a proposal to parliament to further develop the instruments of cost recovery.