Building houses on empty farmyards? Forget it, says the province

It is now eight years ago that Joris Beerepoot asked the municipality of Opmeer if he could build homes in his father’s old bulb company. His father retired, leaving behind about 8,000 square feet of barns and a greenhouse. Beerepoot didn’t think it was realistic to build everything in the picturesque Spanbroek, but a few houses on the Lintweg would be allowed, right?

‘No’, said the municipality of Opmeer. According to the room-by-room arrangement that was still in force at the time, Beerepoot had to demolish all barns and rebuild a maximum of 1 house. After a lot of searching, he found a side path: you can split a new farmhouse into two houses.

Beerepoot has been living in one house and his brother in the other for a month. He hadn’t expected it to take eight years. “We thought, those stables are impoverishing there anyway and we just want to build something beautiful in return.”

1,418,000 square feet of vacant space

Beerepoot’s father is not the only farmer to stop farming. Between 2000 and 2030, some 3,200 North Holland farmers will stop, according to research by the University of Wageningen. Most have no succession, are bought out or think it is enough.

The question now is what to do with those barns and stables. It is clear that something needs to be arranged. If things continue like this, some 1,418,000 square meters will be vacant by 2030. Rural decay is lurking and criminals are said to use the spaces as storage space or drug labs.

There is a clear signal from various North Holland municipalities: use the vacancy to build homes. There is an acute housing shortage and every little bit helps. What’s more, the vacant barns lend themselves well to the construction of informal care apartments, the Wageningen researchers also said in 2017.

But the province of North Holland does not like it. According to the spokesperson, empty stables in rural areas are not a solution to the housing shortage. Building homes in rural areas would affect the quality of the landscape, while the outlying area should be protected as much as possible.

The rules for building homes on a farm are laid down in the Free Agrarian Buildings scheme, which has been in force since 2020. This states that a farmer may build a maximum of two homes, but must first demolish at least 1000 square meters of buildings.

Expensive, more expensive, most expensive

In Koggenland, Rosalien van Dolder tries to turn the tide. The provincial policy of a maximum of two homes would be too repressive and disproportionate to the number of people looking for a home.

“Twelve care homes on a remote yard, or a number of youth homes in an empty barn? Wonderful initiatives, but it is not allowed. The province of Noord-Holland is really blocking everything.”

And, says Van Dolder, building houses in this way is far too expensive for most farmers. “If you first have to demolish everything, and then build two homes, then they often become very expensive homes. That while we need affordable apartments.”

She spoke to the deputies about the rules several times, she says. But you live in the city, say coalition parties VVD and D66. The coalition agreement contains the agreement to build as little as possible in rural areas and building homes on a farmyard does not fit within that vision, according to the province.

“We stick to an open landscape,” says D66 member Sijmen Mulder. “You don’t want something like South Holland, where you no longer know which village you are in because everything has grown together. If twelve houses are built on a yard, people will also want a bus connection, a good infrastructure and a library. And then you quickly get a clutter of the landscape.”

Expansion of the policy?

In 2020, Jaap Hollebeek of the Party for the Animals tried to change the law from a maximum of two homes to multiple houses, but failed. A motion from the Christian Union led to some relaxation: instead of two homes, three may be built from next year.

“Openness has become a value in itself,” says Hollebeek. “And that is a major problem for the quality of life in the villages. It would be good if we allowed a little more.”

The ‘Living Master Plan’, which was published by the province of Noord-Holland at the beginning of this year, announced a program to investigate whether the law could be further expanded. But that preliminary study has not yet started, says the spokesperson.

Moreover, the question is whether the pilot project will even happen at all, says Sijmen Mulder: “The Master Plan died a quiet death, because it came much too late. Everything in it is not yet finished, and I wonder whether that still going to happen.”

Housing shortage

According to Van Dolder, this expansion to three homes will make no difference. There is a housing shortage here, she says. At the beginning of this year, 1752 people registered for 42 homes in Hensbroek. “The province thinks that nobody wants to live in the villages, but that is simply not true.”

And, says Van Dolder, the municipality of Koggenland has to make the same effort to build three homes on a farm as it does to build 100 homes in a city. “It costs relatively too much time and money. So we often have to say no to initiatives for two or three homes.”

Much more is allowed in Ede

The fact that Noord-Holland has a relatively strict policy with a maximum of two homes is apparent from a conversation with management consultant Paul van Daalen of the municipality of Ede. At that Gelderland municipality they have introduced new policy a year ago, for which they are given sufficient space by the province of Gelderland.

“Due to the buy-out arrangements, a lot of farmers will stop their business. And we want to be able to offer them something,” says Van Daalen. In three places the municipality gave permission to build several houses in empty barns. In addition to housing, the municipality also offers other options to farmers who are stopping. Farmers can choose from various options, such as recreation or catering in the yard. They also receive a discount for changing the zoning plan.

But expansion of policy is not an option in North Holland for the time being, says Remine Alberts of opposition party SP. “To preserve the open landscape, we try to be as strict as possible. It is basically ‘no, unless’. And the unless is quite limited.”