Dutch conversion of vacant office buildings, shops into homes stalling

The conversion of former office buildings, shops, and churches into homes stalled further last year, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). In 2025, 8,675 homes were completed in existing buildings, down from 8,755 the year before and well below Housing Minister Mona Keijzer’s goal of 15,000 per year. Keijzer isn’t too concerned, but government architect Francesco Veenstra, the Cabinet’s main construction advisor, calls it “unacceptable,” Nieuwsuur reports.

In 2019, 12,000 homes were created through conversions in the Netherlands. Since then, the number of converted shops, schools, and churches remained virtually the same, but the number of new homes in former office buildings decreased. Previous CBS figures show that there are still over 3 million square meters of vacant office space in the country.

Converting buildings is usually faster, cheaper, and, most importantly, more sustainable than new construction. Conversion causes less nitrogen deposition - the main reason why housing construction is stalling in several areas. Housing Minister Keijzer, therefore, adopted her predecessor’s goal to create 15,000 homes through conversion per year.

Despite this, Keijzer isn’t too worried about the stagnation and doesn’t want to focus blindly on the target, instead working toward creating 100,000 homes per year in whatever way. “Someone who ultimately gets a key in their hands and can put it in a lock does not really care whether it is a transformation home or a newly built home,” she told Nieuwsuur.

But government architect Veenstra finds the stagnation unacceptable. The Netherlands has too little space for the homes it needs, and its nature is dying under nitrogen sediments. Veenstra pointed out the unused space in vacant office buildings and that nitrogen emissions are many times higher for new construction than when transforming existing buildings. “So we will have to transform more.”

“Conversions require different knowledge, different craftsmanship. When we get a better handle on that, you will see that converting existing buildings is ultimately much cheaper,” Veenstra told Nieuwsuur. He is, therefore, against the idea of abandoning the 15,000 per year target. “In fact, it may even have to be increased. We need ambition.”

In response to the important government advisor, Keijzer told Nieuwsuur: “He may say that, but he is not in charge”. She said she would “absolutely” keep working on conversions. “But what ultimately matters is that those 100,000 new homes per year are realized.”

A big reason behind the stagnation in conversions is that all the easily suitable buildings have already been converted, Hilde Remøy, a professor of real estate management at TU Delft, told the current affairs program. “The transformation of existing buildings took off over ten years ago, when many office buildings were vacant after the credit and euro crisis. The easiest buildings to transform are now off the market.” The remaining ones are often unsuitable or expensive to convert.

Despite this, she thinks it is possible - if difficult - to hit the government’s target of 15,000 converted homes per year. “For that to happen, the large office areas also have to be transformed,” Remøy said, calling it tricky. “The buildings on those sites often have different owners who are waiting for each other. Because it is not interesting to transform a building if nothing is happening in the area. That requires cooperation, which municipalities in particular can stimulate.”