Few office spaces converted into homes last year

Last year, 9,600 homes in the Netherlands were created by transforming non-residential properties like offices and shops into living spaces, dropping below the 10,000 mark for the first time since 2015. The decline is entirely due to a decrease in offices turned into homes, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. Preliminary figures show that over 5,000 homes were created through conversion in the first half of 2023.

Last year, 3,100 homes came from converting office buildings, 30 percent less than in 2021. Thirteen percent fewer office buildings were transformed into homes, and, on average, fewer homes were created per office building (8 instead of ten per building).

The number of home transformations from other types of non-residential spaces increased last year. For example, 11 percent more homes were created from social real estate, like schools and hospitals, last year.

Flevoland saw the strongest increase in home transformation last year, from 75 to 355 homes created in this way. Over 75 percent are located in Almere. In hard figures, the largest number of transformations happened in Zuid-Holland, Noord-Holland, and Noord-Brabant, like in 2021.

In Zuid-Holland, The Hague and Rotterdam made the largest contribution with 420 and 290 transformations, respectively. As in 2021, the municipality of Amsterdam delivered the most homes through transformations at 820, 9 percent of the national total.

The number of homes created by transforming non-residential properties accounted for 10 percent of last year’s addition to the housing stock. New construction remained the most important factor for growth in the housing stock, creating 74,600 homes last year.