Turning offices, schools into homes more popular; 40,000 units since 2012

The trend of building homes in existing buildings, such as schools and offices, is becoming increasingly popular. Nearly 40 thousand new homes have been created in this way since 2012, more than 11 thousand per year. This is according to figures from Statistics Netherlands initial study into transformations in the housing market, which were released on Wednesday. The most popular buildings to transform into homes are office buildings - nearly 10 thousand new homes since 2012 - and retail properties - almost 4,800 new homes. Schools, farms and buildings with an industrial function are also popular. Buildings and parts of buildings were most often converted into housing in Amsterdam, The Hague and Groningen. About 20 percent of the transformations took place in Noord-Holland and about 19 percent in Zuid-Holland.