Introduction to how the Netherlands are going about to repair a housing scarcity difficulty. Topping includes including one other flooring or layer to an already current constructing within the Netherlands for housing functions. In line with authorities officers, the outcomes of such an effort is nice: at the least 100,000 properties may be realized with topping up.
Topping can be common within the Netherlands in accordance with the federal government. Increasingly more municipalities, housing companies and industrial events are constructing further properties on flat roofs. However topping up presents extra alternatives than simply including properties.
For Neighborhood Developer BuurtBoost, a collaboration between VORM and Did Actual Property Improvement, topping up is among the means to spice up post-war neighborhoods and add housing. They do that on behalf of housing companies SOR, Woonbron and Rochdale, amongst others.
Many post-war neighborhoods within the Netherlands face the identical challenges. The properties are in want of sustainability, there’s a want for further services and the standard of life is underneath stress. As well as, the rising housing scarcity requires extra housing within the metropolis facilities. Mariette Broesterhuizen, neighborhood developer at BuurtBoost:
“At BuurtBoost, we therefore take an integrated approach to improving neighborhoods. We are looking at what the challenges are in the neighborhood and how we can also give the existing neighborhood a boost by adding extra homes. Adding extra housing offers opportunities to improve the quality of life, public space and facilities in a neighborhood.”
What’s Topping? Topping is the addition of properties by elevating an current constructing by a number of flooring. Analysis exhibits that topping up might create roughly 100,000 further properties by 2030. This makes it a great way to make higher use of current buildings and to contribute to the housing problem.
Integral method
Housing company Rochdale known as in BuurtBoost to enhance the Klipperbuurt within the Banne Noord district of Amsterdam. Guido van de Wijgert, space and sustainability developer at Rochdale: “We want to make our homes in the Klipperbuurt more sustainable and connect them to the heat network. But there are also areas for improvement in terms of quality of life and safety. Then we thought: why don’t we tackle that at the same time?” BuurtBoost’s BuurtScan exhibits that making the properties within the Klipperbuurt extra sustainable may be mixed with the creation of properties by increasing on the backside of buildings or by topping up. Guido:
“BuurtBoost investigated how many homes we could add without having to demolish a lot. Topping up came out as one of the possibilities.”
Involving residents
After BuurtBoost mapped out the alternatives, factors of consideration and spatial potential with the BuurtScan, participation within the Klipperbuurt began. Mariette: “Involving residents is important to arrive at a good approach. People have often lived in the area for a long time and therefore have a lot of knowledge. It is therefore important to hear from the residents themselves how they experience their neighbourhood and home. This gives us a better understanding of what is going on in a neighbourhood. This is not only about housing, but also about its affordability or a healthy living environment. These are all things we want to improve.” Bas Bulten, neighborhood developer at BuurtBoost, explains: “Improving the affordability of housing goes hand in hand with making it more sustainable. By making it more sustainable, fixed costs are reduced and residents are cheaper. Improving health can be done, for example, by reducing nuisance or by constructing new walking routes so that people exercise more.”
Guido does acknowledge that it’s tough to contain residents in an built-in method. “Residents only want one thing and that is renovation and sustainability in the short term. That’s what we promised them. As soon as we tell them that we are going to tackle the neighbourhood, the first question we get is: ‘But when will it be my house’s turn?’” He explains that residents within the Klipperbuurt endure from draughts, damp and mildew. “These are acute problems, which we want to eliminate as soon as possible.” Guido notices that residents are primarily in search of readability.
“In the past, commitments have been made that we have not been able to keep. It is therefore now extra important that we listen carefully to them and explain why we want to take an integrated approach to the neighborhood, for example to create extra housing or play space for their children.”
Extra variety
Along with creating further residing area, the topping ought to contribute to extra variety within the Klipperbuurt. Guido:
“At the moment, the supply consists of 100% social housing. They are also quite large houses of four rooms, which we would like to preserve.”
To create variation within the provide, the brand new prime properties will primarily be two-room flats and studios. Guido:
“In this way, we try to bind other and younger target groups to the neighborhood.”
As well as, a various housing provide presents alternatives for residents to maneuver on to a different house within the neighborhood, for instance after they want much less residing area. Plenty of the top-up properties can be social lease, however properties within the free sector and mid-market rental can even be added.
Further Services
In any case, extra folks within the neighborhood means higher help for services. Mariette:
“Traditionally, there were many local facilities in neighborhoods such as the Klipperbuurt, such as a supermarket, greengrocer or neighborhood café. But because the number of people per household has almost halved over the past 50 years, many facilities have disappeared.”
The thought of the events concerned is so as to add outlets on the bottom flooring of the buildings and to create workplaces and studios for self-employed folks in present storage packing containers. In different phrases, social services and small-scale enterprise, as a result of a neighborhood level and neighborhood room are already there. Guido:
“In addition, we asked residents what facilities they miss in the neighborhood. This showed that people would like meeting places for the elderly, such as vegetable gardens.”
Suggestions for an built-in method
Guido has an vital message for different housing companies that wish to take an built-in method to a neighborhood and are contemplating topping up as a way of densification: “Make sure that all parties involved are on the same page. Each party has its own interests, but it is important that parties with the same intention and ambition sit at the table. Then it will still be a long haul, but then there will be a good basis that offers opportunities for the future.” As well as, he calls on different housing associations to look past simply making properties extra sustainable. Guido: “Look at what else is possible in a neighborhood. For example, can homes be added, even if it is on a small scale?”
Bas and Mariette of BuurtBoost additionally emphasise the urgency of working with numerous events, similar to municipalities, housing companies and traders, to create an motion level for an built-in method to topping up.
“Topping is a good tool for adding new homes to a municipality on scarce building land,” says Bas. Mariette provides: “Ultimately, we will all have to turn the knobs to realize the housing task. We need to learn to look outside the box and make integral thinking the standard.”
Lastly, Guido explains that it’s best to attempt to make your plans as visible as doable for residents.
“When we show people what topping up looks like, they are often immediately enthusiastic,” he says. “That’s true of a lot of things we do in the neighborhood. My tip: make it visual! That’s better with photos and videos than with design drawings.”
What’s the nationwide method to topping up? Topping up, Dwelling | Public Housing Netherlands (volkshuisvestingnederland.nl)
