Dutch industrial housing maker cleared to build millions of homes
Van Wijnen, the country’s largest industrial housing developer, has received a key type approval from certification institute Kiwa, clearing millions of variations of its factory-built prefab homes—houses manufactured in sections at a factory and assembled on-site—at once. The approval lets municipalities issue permits almost immediately, bypassing the usually lengthy review process. Prefab homes can be completed in as little as two months, compared to roughly a year for a traditional build.
“Municipalities only need to stamp the application,” Peter Hutten, director at Van Wijnen, told AD. “We see that municipalities are extremely short-staffed. When we submit a permit request, we usually get a letter asking for an extension of the processing period.” Normally, approvals can take six to twelve weeks, or even an entire quarter, causing delays for new construction. With Kiwa’s type approval, Van Wijnen expects production to accelerate. The company currently produces about 1,000 homes per year in Heerenveen, and with the certification, it plans to scale up output.
The approval covers all essential quality standards, including fire safety, design, structural integrity, and installation processes. Jeroen Pos, head of Kiwa’s quality assurance for industrial construction, told AD that the homes are “an improved version of the traditional Dutch through-living rooms from the 1970s and 1980s, but industrially manufactured at high quality and installed quickly on site.”
Van Wijnen also emphasizes affordability. The company has reportedly designed the homes to meet political goals for accessible housing without compromising quality. Hutten said, “Our design costs are lower, and there is a huge demand for affordable homes. If someone can break the logjam in construction, it must be utilized.”
A spokesperson for the Caretaker Minister of Housing, Keijzer, said, “These are very high-quality homes. Type approval enables builders to construct homes more efficiently and cost-effectively, as individual approvals for each unit are no longer required. This is a development we fully encourage.”
