‘If the municipality doesn’t build homes for us, we will do it ourselves.’ With that in mind, a group of seniors from Amstelveen gathered dozens of peers earlier this week to help them think about the ideal senior courtyard that they want to have built in Stadsdorp Elsrijk.
Amstelveen seniors want to build their own palace – NH News
The seniors are combative. “Everyone is talking about the fact that care is becoming unaffordable, that there are no senior homes and that the flow is not good. We said: ‘We are going to do it ourselves’,” says chairman of the working group Hans Steenvoorden firmly. The large turnout increases his enthusiasm. “That shows it’s alive.”
Amstelveen seniors who came to the meeting think a lot about the future, it becomes apparent when reporter Celine Sulsters talks to them. “There will come a time when I can no longer live alone,” says 73-year-old Lize ten Siethoff, for example. She currently lives in a house that is actually too big for her. “I occupy a home that can also accommodate a family. I will think about that.”
‘Terribly expensive’
The senior housing she encounters in Amstelveen does not meet her wishes. “They are either very small or very large,” Ten Siethoff explains. Robert Bloemendaal (73) and his wife also sometimes look at another home. “The apartments are terribly expensive at the moment,” they complain. It is clear that the couple will have to move at some point: “We live in a rented single-family home with a staircase. There comes a time when you prefer to have everything on one floor.”
“You have to be able to withdraw, but also do something together with other people”
But what does their dream home look like? Steenvoorden had this investigated with his working group. A total of 150 Amstelveen seniors completed the questionnaire that she distributed. The vast majority of them prefer to live in an apartment or senior home, in a complex where contact with other neighbors is encouraged.
“You must be able to withdraw, but also do something together with other people. When you want to. But also, for example, do some shopping for someone else,” explains interested and grandnephew of Hans Ruud Steenvoorden (73).
Rental property with outdoor space
The research also shows that most participating seniors would prefer to rent a home. The ideal size of the rental home is between fifty and one hundred square meters, but 15 percent want to live slightly larger. None of the seniors who participated in the study want to live in a home smaller than 50 square meters.
The ideal monthly rental price should not be much above 1200 euros. And then there is something that Amstelveen seniors find very important: enough green outdoor space.
Text continues below design Amstelveen’s senior courtyard
Captain Hans Steenvoorden hopes to be able to realize all this in a cozy ‘elderly courtyard’ with communal areas, where neighbors interact and help each other. He already has two locations in mind: the Galjoen in Waardhuizen and the Bovenkerkerweg. In addition, developer Time to Access has already created two designs, so that seniors get an idea of what is possible.
To get used to
According to Steenvoorden, the next step is to set up your own foundation. Then the seniors can get to work seriously. He realizes all too well that the road to an ideal elderly home is not without bumps. “I notice that in Amstelveen they have to get used to residents coming up with their own ideas.”
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