In total, 7,900 new homes were created by transforming empty offices and other buildings in 2024, almost half the annual target of 15,000 set by the outgoing cabinet, national statistics agency CBS said on Tuesday.

The number of office buildings, schools, shops and other premises being converted into homes has been falling for years and was down 10% last year compared with 2023.

CBS also estimates that just 2,900 more homes were added through conversions in the first six months of this year.

An estimated 40,000 buildings are thought to be empty and potentially suitable for redevelopment, but there are issues with some of them and the easy projects have already been completed.

“You are not going to build on an industrial estate,” Delft University professor Peter Boelhouwer told broadcaster NOS.

The government set aside €150 million in loans for developers who want to transform empty buildings into homes, hoping to speed up the process.

But apart from complying with environmental rules, developers are facing delays caused by local council regulations and objections from residents who must be consulted.

“You end up in procedures that take a lot of time. It can be two or three years before we can start,” developer Tim van der Lugt told the broadcaster.

New housing legislation and less favourable fiscal conditions are also discouraging investors who want to convert empty buildings into homes to sell or rent out, Boelhouwer said.

Almost 75% of the converted homes are owned by private landlords. “They are withdrawing from the housing market, and that may also be a factor,” CBS’s Frank Notten said.