NRP submits petition for sustainable housing to House of Representatives
Sneller, meer en duurzamer woningen toevoegen
The homes and workplaces of the future already exist. By making better use of our existing stock, we can solve the housing shortage more quickly and sustainably. This is the essence of the petition “Add more homes, faster and more sustainably”, which the National Renovation Platform (NRP), on behalf of a network of more than 2,700 organisations, presented to the VRO Committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday 25 November. The petition is a call for integrated cooperation, in which new construction, transformation, renovation and repurposing reinforce each other and other challenges.
A different approach to solving the housing shortage
We cannot solve the housing crisis, energy transition, ageing population, pressure on healthcare, quality of life and climate change with new construction alone. That is too slow, too expensive and places too much strain on the environment and people. By making better use of existing buildings, we save space, materials, energy and valuable time in solving these urgent social challenges. This requires a different approach, in which systems, rules and processes must be designed to make better use of what we already have. In this way, we can solve the housing shortage more quickly and build what is really needed, in places where it adds value to society.
Existing and new buildings reinforce each other
The petition is not a call against new construction. The transformation of existing buildings and new construction should reinforce each other. In the short term, achieve the target of 100,000 homes or more per year from the existing stock and, in the meantime, work on plans for new construction. There is great potential here, as research by Platform Woonopgave also shows. Not demolishing buildings would yield around 164,000 homes, finding homes within existing buildings would yield 1 million, and finding space within existing centres for sustainable new construction would yield almost 3 million. In short, the current building stock offers space for approximately 4 million homes.
Oproep aan de politiek
With this petition, the initiators and providers are calling on policymakers to fully recognise and utilise the enormous potential of existing buildings. If we make a firm commitment to utilising the existing built environment over the next ten years, we can realise at least 100,000 homes per year in the short term, while new construction plans are carefully worked out. This will enable us to solve the housing shortage more quickly and build what is really needed, in places where it adds value to society. In this way, we can certainly fit one to five cities within the current urban space. The future of public housing is already here. It is time to make better use of it.
Initiators and co-providers
The petition is an initiative of the National Renovation Platform (NRP).
Co-sponsoring organisations: ACAN, BNA, bni, BNSP, BouwHulpGroep, DGBC, Federatie Ruimtelijke Kwaliteit, Gideon, IABR, Koninklijke NLingenieurs, Natuur & Milieu, NVTL, Platform Ontwerp NL, Stichting Mevrouw Meijer, Stichting Platform Woonopgave, Vereniging Deltametropool.
With thanks to: TNO, LEVS, De Bouwcampus, KMIDB, Platform31, Neprom, Aedes, Vastgoed Belang, DGBC, Mevrouw Meijer Foundation, Royal NLingenieurs, BNA, IABR, WDJArchitecten, CRa, International New Town Institute, Studio Groen+Schild
The petition can be read (in Dutch) via this link.
The petition stems from the previously published Manifesto De meeste woningen staan er al, (Most homes are already in place), drawn up by NRP and Natuur & Milieu, which was presented in November 2024 and has since been supported by 126 companies, government bodies and knowledge institutes. Although several recommendations from the manifesto have already been taken up, the urgency in the housing market and for the climate is so great that further steps are inevitable.
