The house of Eric-Jan and Lieke van Trijen in Halsteren has been sinking for more than three years. Large cracks are visible in all facades and struts keep the house upright for the time being. It took more than three years before the couple received a building permit and they incurred more than 150,000 euros in extra costs. And according to them all because of a municipal error.
Eric-Jan and Lieke have submitted a claim for damages and an online support campaign has been set up for them. Their house is literally about to collapse. The house will remain standing for the time being due to struts. “But it only takes a screw or a beam to break and the whole thing can collapse,” says Eric-Jan.
“This house was built before the term zoning existed.”
Plans for a renovation arose in 2019 when it turned out that the roof needed to be overhauled. A crack was also discovered in the facades. What started with one crack became more and more. The entire foundation appeared to be sagging. “Our house was built in 1904 and has a foundation that is too soft for the soft ground.”
So new construction turned out to be the solution, or so Eric-Jan and Lieke thought. However, the application for a building permit was rejected. Due to a zoning error. “Our house was built in 1904, before the term zoning existed.”
“Our house moved faster than the municipality did.”
When an online map with the zoning plan of the polder area in Halsteren was made in 2012, Eric-Jan said his home was accidentally removed from that map. “So our house did exist, but not according to that map. The agricultural destination was still there, but the BedrijfsWoning label was missing.”
Because of such a small mistake on an online card, a year-long battle with the municipality arose. “He turned this small problem, one missing label, into a big problem.” It didn’t work out, years passed. “At one point, our house moved faster than the municipality did.”
Ultimately, an extensive permit application turned out to be the solution. But such an extensive application entails a lot of research and therefore extra costs. “Such a procedure normally only applies to large companies and organizations, not to a private house.”
“The insurance cannot pay out anything.”
Dozens of investigations were needed, in ecological, acoustic and archaeological fields. The ground also had to be examined. All this, combined with the rapid rise in building prices and additional costs such as building advice and work, led to more than 150,000 euros in extra costs.
But, with success: after three years Eric-Jan and Lieke received permission to start building. Whether they will recover the extra costs remains to be seen. “The insurance cannot pay out anything.” So the couple filed a damage claim with the municipality of Bergen op Zoom, which includes Halsteren. And there is hope. “The fact that such a claim is looked at several times shows that we certainly want to cooperate with this,” says a spokesperson for the municipality. “But to what extent that will succeed, we will know on August 30.” Then it becomes known to what extent the couple will be met.
In the meantime, the couple has at least started building their new home. “That keeps us going.”
There is a support action started for Erik-Jan and Lieke to be able to pay all additional costs.