Minister wants fewer new office buildings

New locations for office buildings should only be made available in ‘exceptional circumstances’, according to infrastructure minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen. In all other cases, existing locations should be better used.


In 2010, around 14% of office buildings in the Netherlands were empty.
Schultz wants to give property developers more possibilities to turn empty offices into apartments, reports the Financieele Dagblad. She also wants local and provincial councils to ease the change of use restrictions.
Earlier this year, property developers warned that urgent action needs to be taken to reduce the surplus of office space.
And Amsterdam city council has already said it will take steps to reduce surplus offices by fining owners who fail to register their property as empty for more than a year, and converting suitable buildings into housing.

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