In the midst of the housing crisis, it is difficult for students, starters, emergency seekers and the elderly to find a suitable place to live. Since Thursday, there has been a dixi converted into a home in Den Bosch, which students made out of frustration in the housing shortage. It just cannot be inhabited. And that applies to more creative solutions that are devised. For example, you may not just live in a garden house, shed or garage. The rules for this differ per municipality. “There is no general line.”
If you want to build an additional care home for your mother or a garden house for your daughter, you are almost always dependent on the General Provisions Environmental Law Act (Wabo). You need an environmental permit to build an additional space. That’s on the website of Knowledge center InfoMil from Rijkswaterstaat.
“And municipalities determine independently of each other whether or not a type of housing fits within a zoning plan,” explains a spokesperson for NVM brokers. “If it is, a permit can be given, but there is no general line for that.”
Building permit-free
There are cases in which building can be built without a permit. These are the so-called ‘crumb cases’. Which, by the way, you still have to report to the municipality. But that is relatively faster than applying for an environmental permit.
These ‘crumb cases’ often involve installing dormer windows and antenna installations, for example, but there are also certain outbuildings that fit within these exceptions. It differs greatly per residential function and per type of outbuilding.
Living in the garage
But of course, it is not always necessary to upgrade. Letting your son live in the garage because he is always fishing behind the net is also a solution. But whether that is allowed also depends on the zoning plan. For example, the zoning plan must clearly state that your garage has the function of ‘residential’. And even then it is advisable to inform the municipality.
You can always sleep in the old caravan in the garden. But if that night out becomes a habit, permits are also needed. Building or living in a shed, garden house, care home or old caravan is therefore not possible without contact with the municipality and a lot of laws and permits.
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