Sinking foundations could trigger €54bn housing repair bill

More than 400,000 buildings in the Netherlands have problems with their foundations or are likely to develop them in the next 10 years, a government watchdog has warned.

Buildings are sinking for a combination of reasons, including falling groundwater levels, bacterial erosion, drought, structural faults and the impact of construction work. Earthquakes caused by gas drilling in Groningen have also destabilised houses in the northern province.

In around 120,000 cases the buildings are in urgent need of repair, the council for the environment and infrastructure (Rli) concluded in a report. If nothing is done the cost of repairing the damage could add up to €54 billion.

The problems have been made worse by the impact of climate change, Mandy Korff, foundations expert at the TU Delft university told Nu.nl. “If the groundwater level drops, whether through human activity or climate change, the ground level sinks and houses without foundation piles sink with it.”

Housing shortage

The Rli has called for new housing developments to be built on land that is solid enough to bear the load, but that will make it even more challenging to meet the government’s target of 100,000 new homes a year, which is one of the cabinet’s main priorities.

“Shortage of space is connected to the choices we make about accessibility, agriculture and where we need to build houses based on where people want to live,” Korff said.

Since April surveyors have been obliged to include details of the state of the foundations in homebuyers’ reports. Tamara Evers of SVn, a non-profit organisation that arranges loans for sustainable housing repairs, said the move was a step in the right direction, but foundation problems were not always visible.

She also questioned if homeowners should bear the responslbility for the repairws alone. “Some can afford to repair their homes, others can’t, and the question is whether if is fair to leave it to the individual homeowner when you consider all the different underlying causes.”