Serious defects, irreversible obsolescence or even technically ripe for demolition. At least 80,000 social rental homes in the Netherlands are in moderate to very bad condition. That is more homes than there are in total in cities such as Enschede, Maastricht or Nijmegen.
Conditions for social housing in the Netherlands
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It regularly causes problems for sitting tenants, who have to deal with, for example, leaks, moldy walls and ceilings, impassable balconies or rotting window frames.
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Independent
The research editors of RTL Nieuws analyzed data from the Dutch Housing Corporations Authority, supplied by corporations themselves, which show that 1 in 25 social rental homes for which a so-called condition score is known is in moderate to very bad condition.
Such a condition score is determined by an independent inspector. Roel Warringa is one of them. He checks the technical condition of buildings and complexes according to the Dutch Standard (NEN), to which he co-wrote.
‘2 ideale score’
“Scores are objectively determined by experts in the field. The ideal score is a score around condition 2. That means good condition.” With a score of 3, according to Warringa, an intervention is necessary in the short term, with 4 it really concerns major interventions. “Then you have to remember that that house will soon need major maintenance. Within 0 to 3 years.”
According to Warringa, very often it doesn’t have to come to that. Not even if a house is outdated. “If interventions are carried out on time enough, it cannot drop to a 5 or 6, and only occasionally to a 4.”
Moreover, timely maintenance is better for the wallet, according to Warringa and other experts who spoke to RTL Nieuws. They point out that waiting because of more expensive interventions ultimately leads to much higher costs and dissatisfied customers.
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Major differences between corporations
Aiming for a condition score of 2 and preventing homes from ending up in 4 is a good starting point for housing associations, according to inspectors. This seems to work well for more than 80 housing associations in the country: they do not have a single house in a moderate, bad or very bad condition.
But that certainly does not apply to all corporations. For example, almost half (49 percent) of all homes of the Woonstad Rotterdam housing association fall into category 4 to 6 (moderate to very poor). And also at Woningbedrijf Velsen and ProWonen, a significant part of the property (44 percent) falls into these categories.
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What is a fitness score?
The condition score of a house indicates the extent to which buildings or parts thereof need maintenance. The score is determined by inspectors using an independent standard (NEN 2767).
Different parts of a house or complex, such as the foundation, the roof and technical installations, are examined by the inspector, after which a score from 1 (excellent) to 6 (very bad) is given for each part. All assessed components together form the condition score of a house or complex.
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‘Distorted picture’
According to Woonstad Rotterdam, the figures, which the corporation itself provided to the Housing Association Authority, give a distorted picture of the state of maintenance. Because according to the corporation, the condition score only improves when all the planned maintenance has taken place. From window replacement to painting. And that does not all happen at the same time, let the corporation know in a response.
Woonstad Rotterdam does state that it would like to invest more in a good level of maintenance for all its homes. “There are too many social tasks and too few resources to focus even more vigorously on increasing the level of maintenance.”
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1 in 3 experiences overdue maintenance
A bad condition can lead to danger or considerable impairment of the enjoyment of living. And the latter is very common. More than 1 in 3 tenants (36 percent) of housing associations experience overdue maintenance, according to figures from umbrella organization Aedes. In the regions of Rotterdam and The Hague, that share is even higher.
Housing associations are also regularly reprimanded for serious maintenance defects, according to figures from the Rent Assessment Committee. In the past 3 years, the Rental Committee has imposed rent reductions on housing associations 656 times due to poor maintenance. For the tenants, this usually meant a rent reduction of several hundred euros per month.
The rulings affected homes across the country. This can be clearly seen on the map below with all addresses where the Rent Assessment Committee has identified serious defects between 2018 and 2020 and reduced the rent.
These tenants received a rent reduction after serious defects
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‘APK for homes’
In a response to the figures, the Woonbond states that there is still much room for improvement in maintenance. The interest group for tenants therefore advocates an APK for homes. “We think it’s very normal that a car should be safe on the road, but we don’t care about that with a home. We would like to see a periodic inspection on housing quality.”
With this, the Woonbond also hopes to gain more insight into the state of maintenance of rental housing outside the housing associations. “That is a black box, because there is no authority there to keep a finger on the pulse of housing conditions.”
In connection with making homes more sustainable, housing associations expect a wave of renovations in the coming years. “A good opportunity to improve homes, but no reason not to remedy defects in homes until then. That is simply the duty of a landlord,” said spokesperson Marcel Trip of the Woonbond.
‘Not uninhabitable but on‘
The sector association of housing associations Aedes recognizes that some of the – especially older – homes no longer meet the requirements. “At some point they are ‘on’. It does not mean that these homes are uninhabitable. They simply no longer have the quality that we want to offer the tenant in 2021.”
Aedes points out that some of these homes are on the list for demolition. Every year, about 9,000 homes go under the demolition hammer. Like Woonstad Rotterdam, the trade association also points to a lack of financial resources to meet all requirements, including good maintenance.
“The available financial resources of housing associations are under constant pressure. Because as a housing association you can of course only spend every euro once, it is important when assessing each complex to determine whether renovation is still a realistic option, or whether it is possible. demolition and new construction is more appropriate.”
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