The Netherlands faces a critical housing shortage, estimated at over 400,000 homes in 2024, while simultaneously pursuing ambitious climate goals. Prefabricated housing offers a promising solution, as it enables faster construction, minimizes material waste, and improves energy efficiency. However, despite its technical and non-technical advantages and alignment with sustainability agendas, its market adoption remains limited and fragmented in the Dutch context. This study examines the key factors influencing the market adoption of prefabricated housing in the Netherlands, with a focus on the underlying misalignments among actors from diverse sectors.

To explore this issue, the study applied a mixed-methods research design. An extensive literature review was conducted to identify factors influencing adoption in the existing literature. Subsequently, three stages of expert interviews were conducted with 12 experts from academia, industry, and government, who represent the Triple Helix model. The Best-Worst Method (BWM) was then applied to rank nine consolidated adoption factors based on expert input systematically. The process was followed by a thematic analysis and triangulation with 25 international studies to explore the reasoning behind stakeholder preferences and variation in prioritization.

The nine key factors assessed were:
1. Financial and Economic Viability
2. Consumer Perception and Market Demand
3. Policy and Regulatory Support
4. Speed and Construction Efficiency
5. Sustainability and Environmental Impact
6. Industry Collaboration and Workforce Development
7. Structural Quality and Durability
8. Technological Advancements and Standardisation
9. Supply Chain and Logistics Efficiency

As seen above, financial and economic viability ranked highest, indicating that cost-effectiveness, profitability, and affordability are decisive for both public and private actors. Consumer perception and market demand followed closely, reflecting the role of public trust and design acceptability. Policy and regulatory support was also ranked highly, which emphasizes the need for efficient permits and consistent policies. Conversely, factors such as technological advancements and supply chain logistics, often emphasised in the literature, were deprioritised by experts, who saw them as either already developed or less influential in current decision-making contexts.

BWM analysis also revealed that prioritizations were not sectorally consistent: experts within the same sector often disagreed. Instead, through thematic analysis and triangulation, it is known that factor rankings were shaped by an individual’s background, institutional mandate, and past project experience. For example, experts with experience in government focused on financial viability and regulatory support, while industry actors emphasized financial viability and sustainability. In the meantime, academic experts often stressed consumer perception, construction speed, and cross-sector collaboration.

This study presents a stakeholder-informed, decision-analytic framework for understanding the adoption of prefabricated housing. It emphasizes that accelerating adoption requires not only technical innovation but also coordinated cross-sectoral strategies, financial incentives, a shared narrative that enhances consumer perception, and policy support. The findings offer practical insights for policymakers, developers, and researchers seeking to mainstream prefabricated housing as a sustainable, scalable, and socially accepted housing solution in the Netherlands.