Despite the high demand for homes and the increasing popularity of working from home, the rate at which offices are being converted into homes is slowing. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 10,200 homes were added last year because buildings were converted. In the years before that, that was 12,500 homes.
In comparison: the construction of new houses added more than 69,000 homes last year.
The figures do not only concern offices, but also the conversion of schools, care institutions and churches. The office category in particular has fallen in the figures. The number of offices that have been converted fell by 10 percent and the buildings that were renovated resulted in fewer homes on average: eight instead of twelve a year earlier.
The conversion mainly results in small houses where mostly single people live. The average size is 76 square meters, while houses in the Netherlands are on average 119 m2.
‘Underestimated solution’
More than 8 percent of all offices are empty, according to figures from real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield. “Conversion of those offices is an underestimated solution to the problems on the housing market,” says Cees-Jan Pen, lecturer at Fontys Hogescholen. “It is often thought that it is too expensive, too complex and too much hassle. New construction is quickly seen as easier, but the infrastructure is already there for the offices.”
According to Pen, it would help if conversion could be arranged more quickly. “The preliminary phase for conversion takes years. The government should take a good look at how this can be done a bit faster.”
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