Amsterdam city council plans to set up a register of empty office properties and fine landlords up to €7,500 if they fail to comply, the Parool reports.

Some 17% of the city’s offices are currently empty – a total 1.3 million m2.
Offices empty for a year will be looked at to see if they can be converted into housing to help reduce the city’s acute housing shortage.
The Netherlands has some 6.5 million square metres of empty offices – almost 14% of the total, according to research published in January by real estate group DTZ Zadelhoff.