More new homes in 2001

Nearly 73 thousand new homes were built in the Netherlands in 2001. Although this is more than two thousand, or three percent, more than in 2000, it still substantially fewer than in 1999. In that year nearly 79 thousand new homes were completed.

Four out of five new homes are for built for owner-occupiers, one fifth was for the rent sector. Three-quarters of new homes were one-family houses..

Completed new homes by province

South Holland in the lead, largest growth in Groningen

Most new homes in 2001, some 17 thousand, were completed in the province of South Holland. North Holland came second with 11 thousand. Fewest new homes were completed In Zeeland.

The largest relative increase in the number of completed homes was in the province of Groningen. Nearly one quarter more new homes were built in this province in 2001 than in the year before. In South Holland, North Holland, Utrecht, Flevoland, Overijssel and Limburg the numbers of completed homes also rose, by between two to sixteen percent.

Completed new homes per 1,000 existing homes, 2001

Housing stock increased most in western "Vinex" municipalities

In 2001 eleven new homes were built for every thousand existing ones. The increases were largest in the so-called Vinex locations, municipalities near the four large cities in the west of the Netherlands designated as growth areas by planners in the first half of the nineties. These Vinex municipalities are: Leidschendam, Nootdorp and Pijnacker near The Hague; Haarlemmermeer and Almere near Amsterdam, Houten near Utrecht and Barendrecht near Rotterdam.

Homes for which building permits were granted per province

Number of permits granted continues to fall

This slight revival in home construction in 2001 is not expected to continue. Fewer permits were granted in 2001, than in the preceding year, continuing the recent trend. At 62 thousand the number of permits was twenty percent down on 2000.

The fall was observed in all provinces, with the exception of Groningen and Friesland. The province of Flevoland had the largest fall: in 2001 the number of permits for new homes was half the number in 2000.

Cees Steijn