Roelien Ritsema van Eck: ‘Public task, private context’

Ritsema van Eck has been chair of the executive board of de Alliantie since November 1, 2025, but has been a board member since 2020. She also holds various supervisory positions, including supervisory board positions at ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Univé, and Air Traffic Control Netherlands. More on that dual role later. First, interviewer Hans Bongartz, partner at Boer & Croon, wants to know how her first 100 days as chair of the board, which included the Christmas period, went. Very relaxed, it turns out. ‘I always have time off between Christmas and New Year's and stay at home. It is wonderful to cocoon with the family. That worked out well this year too. Of course, you are always on call to some extent. In a real estate company such as de Alliantie, transactions often happen at the end of the year. But also, I know the organization, the people, and the sector, so I have the luxury of being able to focus primarily on the future and on the question of what other areas I want to focus on.’

What, in your opinion, should definitely not change? And what could perhaps be done differently?
‘De Alliantie is known for three things. We are the largest social housing developer in the Netherlands, building around 1,500 new homes per year, and we invest heavily in innovation and sustainability. Our portfolio has an average A-label. I want to keep all of that. What I would like to change is to increase our collaboration with other parties, because that is becoming increasingly important in order to get things done. In my opinion, our quality of living is not only determined by the quality of our homes themselves, but also by the livability of a neighborhood: is it a pleasant place to live and work? We create such a livable environment by building not only social housing, but also mid-range rental homes, owner-occupied homes, and various social facilities in an area. We do this ourselves as de Alliantie, but we also work closely with commercial developers, municipalities, and welfare organizations. Together, we create resilient neighborhoods. Municipalities are important stakeholders in creating livable neighborhoods, because they can influence who is housed where. When you bring together a large number of homeless people, people leaving mental health care, status holders, or other more vulnerable groups, a neighborhood becomes vulnerable.
If, through collaboration between all stakeholders we succeed in creating diverse neighborhoods, the people who live there will also be less reliant on healthcare and welfare providers and municipalities. We believe it is important to involve residents themselves in creating a sense of community. We do this through community apps and by appointing community builders, among other things. They are a point of contact for residents and ensure greater cohesion in neighborhoods and complexes, for example by appointing committees for and by residents. I would like to place even greater emphasis on these soft elements of our development profile. We are currently shaping how to do this in the management team.’

You were a member of the executive board and are now chair of the board. What is the biggest difference between these two roles?
‘We were and are a collegial board, so legally I have exactly the same responsibilities as in my previous job. This new role is, however, even more externally oriented than my previous role. As the figurehead of the organization, I also get different questions from stakeholders, for example about my vision on housing, relevant developments in real estate, or the future of our organization.
Within our own organization, I have noticed that young women in particular find it very inspiring that I, as a woman with three teenage daughters, am now in this position. I strongly believe in the power of role models, and I regularly have coffee with women, both inside and outside the organization, to give them a boost. When I am approached about this, I have only one request: in turn, help another woman.’

What is the most important challenge for de Alliantie in the coming years?
‘To build as many homes as possible with limited resources and to make our portfolio CO2 neutral. It is a persistent misconception that housing corporations receive subsidies. We do not receive any subsidies, and the maximum rent we are allowed to charge is determined by law. As a sector, we are at the forefront of making real estate more sustainable, but the benefits of this primarily go to our tenants in the form of lower energy costs. At the same time, we are faced with a shortage of locations, resources, and personnel. We have a public task in a private context.’

What does this require of your leadership team?
‘The paradox is that, from a financial perspective, you actually do very well as a housing corporation if you do nothing. Then you are essentially a real estate investor and have a more or less stable income from the homes you rent out. Also, we have a substantial portfolio of around 60,000 homes, but we are adding approximately 1,500 new homes per year through construction, rooftop extensions, or splitting. We continued to do this even when the government withdrew from the sector and production more or less came to a standstill. To continue building at a steady pace, you have to persistently stretch both your own organization and your financial limits. We must constantly remind ourselves and our stakeholders of the urgency: there is a housing shortage, we have to build more.’

What has fundamentally changed for housing corporations in the outside world compared to five years ago, when you joined the company?
‘Existing problems - such as grid congestion, rising prices, a tight labor market, and neighborhood polarization - have worsened but not fundamentally changed. What has caused us, like many other organizations, a lot of trouble in recent years is political unpredictability. Last summer, a rent freeze was announced and, fortunately, withdrawn again. This would have meant an average rent increase of €6 per month less for tenants, but it would have cost the sector billions of euros in investment capacity. Changes in sustainability policy have not helped either: for example, from one minister to the next, the focus on installing heat pumps suddenly disappeared. Political stability helps us enormously in realizing our social mission.’

Besides more predictability, what would be your advice or wish for the new cabinet for this sector?
‘The fact that The Hague has been absent from public housing for a long time has not done the sector any good, so the renewed attention is positive. With more central coordination, we can add more homes faster. Currently, every municipality can impose additional requirements on housing in addition to national regulations.
Flora and fauna regulations, such as having to relocate bird nests when demolishing old houses, also delay the construction of hundreds of homes. Moreover, appeal procedures can lead to years of delay. I understand that there are different interests at stake, but I think the government should take more control by simplifying and shortening requirements and procedures.’

In addition to being chair of the executive board, you also serve on a number of supervisory boards. How do you experience that combination?
‘Being both executive and non-executive means that I can empathize with the board and know exactly what a director has to deal with on a daily basis. And I also realize, for example, the impact on an organization of various requests for information from the supervisory board. It helps me to stay in my role and not step into the director's shoes. Furthermore, I am a human being, so as a director, I know how nice it is to occasionally receive a compliment from your supervisory board – your employer – because who else would give you one?’

Is the combination also enriching in terms of content?
‘The added value also lies in the fact that I am a two-footer and active in both public and private organizations. To be honest, with private organizations I am more inclined to ask about the social contribution, while with public organizations I tend to focus more on whether there is sufficient urgency to operate professionally and efficiently. I do the latter at de Alliantie as well. We are strongly mission-driven, and that sometimes requires extra vigilance to maintain our businesslike efficiency.’

How would you characterize your leadership style? And do you emphasize different things in your current role than you did before?
‘No matter what position I hold, I always bring myself to the table. Others describe me as someone with a warm heart and a cool head. I am very relationship- and people-oriented. My team and I spend a lot of time getting to know each other, so that we know where someone comes from, what energizes them, and where their triggers are. Connecting people is where my strength and energy lie, but I am also convinced that a team really does perform better when there is a high level of mutual trust.’

When do you have doubts as a leader?
‘I can sometimes be quite doubtful. That is why I find mutual trust within the management team so important. I discuss as much as possible with the group, even if that takes more time. If it turns out to be the wrong decision, then of course I take full responsibility – but I will have made the decision carefully and with all the insight available at that moment. I think doubt is very healthy in these complex times, although it is obvious that a crisis situation, for example, demands quick decision-making.’

What advice do you have for young people who want to become supervisors?
‘Getting that first role is hard work. You basically have two choices: start with a board or supervisory board position that comes your way or wait for the ideal position that meets all your criteria. I see a lot of young women doing the latter. I am not of that school myself, because experience has taught me that once you have that first role, the next one comes much more easily. So my message is: make sure you gain experience quickly, do not wait too long. You can do this at your children's school, your sports club, or the neighborhood theater around the corner. And once you have that first supervisory role, my advice is to listen carefully. To generalize a bit, I see that young supervisors often immediately want to prove their added value by sharing what they think about everything. But that is not necessary. Feel free to take the time to listen and ask questions. You will learn much from it.’

This interview was published in Management Scope 03 2026.