To combat the housing shortage in Assen, the Asser groups of PvdA and the ChristenUnie want to convert vacant buildings into homes. “Homes are not set pieces. In times of crisis we have to use every square meter,” said the parties.
“We hear stories from large buildings where only a handful of people lives, or family homes where no more than one person is allowed to live in. That while so many people are urgently looking for a roof over their heads,” says Jerke Setz, councilor for the ChristenUnie.
That is why the groups want the municipality of Assen to take an example at the Biotoop in Haren, where 180 residents and 100 entrepreneurs live together in an old building of the University of Groningen through a vacancy manager.
In the coming period, both groups hope to be kept informed by the Municipal Executive of B and W. They ask the college to report on the claims made within six months. “The home crisis requires creativity and decisiveness,” says Willard Bouwmeester, party leader of the PvdA. “Let’s turn the vacancy into something of real value: a home for people who have to miss that now.”