News item | 24-01-2025 | 5:05 PM
Residents in Groningen who need light reinforcement of their home are given the opportunity to combine this with the insulation of their home. State Secretary Eddie van Marum (Recovery of Groningen) decided this on Friday, January 24. Light reinforcement means that the construction time is less than 4 months. There are approximately 3,400 addresses that will receive a slight reinforcement and can opt for this combination. Residents decide for themselves whether they want the work to take place at the same time.
Van Marum bases this decision on a trial by the National Coordinator Groningen (NCG) with 185 homes. The test shows that the combination leads to higher satisfaction among residents. The preparation of the work will then be easier and residents will have to make fewer arrangements themselves. The residents in the trial also indicated that they experienced conversations at the kitchen table as more pleasant.
State Secretary Eddie van Marum (Recovery of Groningen): “I want to keep the inconvenience to residents as small as possible. This can be done by carrying out light reinforcements and insulation at the same time. Then you have one hassle, and then you live in a fortified and well-insulated house. This may mean that the reinforcement task as a whole will take longer, but safety and relieving residents’ worries are more important to me.”
From April
The NCG will immediately start preparing the combination. It is expected that from April onwards the NCG will start discussions with residents who want to have light reinforcement carried out at the same time as insulation. Residents will be kept informed about this by their resident supervisors from the NCG.
There is a group of residents where light reinforcement was started just after the trial and just before this decision. In order not to let this group fall through the cracks, the NCG will talk to these residents to find a suitable solution together.
Insulation up to standard
Insulating homes is one of the promises from Nij Begun, the government’s response to the parliamentary inquiry into gas extraction from the Groningen field. The NCG has already combined reinforcement and insulation for heavier reinforcements of 4 months or longer, during which residents often have to leave their homes. That is measure 28 from Nij Begun. The combination with lighter reinforcements is done on the basis of measure 29. The aim of that measure is to insulate all homes in the province of Groningen and the North Drenthe municipalities of Tynaarlo, Noordenveld and Aa and Hunze to the national standard for home insulation.
The draft regulation for measure 29 is currently in internet consultation. It closes on January 27. All responses will then be examined jointly by the national government and the region. The scheme may then be improved or adjusted. The final version will be submitted to the House of Representatives.