1/3 Just renovated houses and jetties in Helmond’s Leonardusbuurt (Photo: Alice van der Plas)
By 2030, all housing associations must make their rental properties more sustainable. But renovating an old neighborhood with hundreds of homes is not an easy job. During a visit to three neighborhoods where renovation is underway, Omroep Brabant noticed many differences. One resident is happy with the improvements, but two doors down it is a nightmare. The housing associations admit that not everything goes perfectly. “It has to go almost smoothly, because if one thing goes wrong, it can quickly have serious consequences.”
Housing association Woonpartners is almost finished with the renovation in the Planetenbuurt in Helmond. It’s raining complaints. For example, residents who wake up in a wet bed due to a leak in their new roof. Woonpartners admits that things did not go well everywhere, but that she also had a lot of setbacks. The planning was tight and the weather, for example, had to cooperate. It is not easy to renovate flat roofs when it rains for weeks.
Mikel Segers, real estate manager at Woonpartners: “A lot went wrong during this renovation. This is a more difficult job than in other neighborhoods.” What is that reason for? “It’s a lot. We immediately tackle the inside and the outside. It has to go almost smoothly. If something doesn’t go well, it immediately has serious consequences. A lot of things came together unfortunately and then we look: how do we get get this fixed as quickly as possible?”
“It had too big an impact.”
People regularly have to wait until something that is broken is repaired. Mikel Segers: “It depends on whether materials and people are available. Try explaining that to residents whose roof is leaking. Every minute that your roof leaks is of course one too many.” But Woonpartners wants to learn lessons from the renovation of the Planetenbuurt. “This should have gone better.” And the rain? “That is of course no excuse.”
Adil Lahrech of housing association Volksbelang In Helmond also believes that there is almost no room for errors. He is responsible for the renovation of the Leonardusbuurt. Hundreds of homes will be renovated and made more sustainable in the coming years. Phase 1 has just been completed. “The residents had to wait a very long time for the renovation,” says Lahrech. “We thought: let’s do it right right away and tackle everything. But in practice that was too heavy for the residents.”
According to them, phase 1 of the Leonardusbuurt proceeded in ‘fits and starts’. “You think you are doing it right, but you always have to see it from the residents’ side. What do the residents have to deal with? For example, it is not useful to renovate afterwards if the elderly resident continues to live there.”
“People sometimes expect more.”
The housing associations say that they have to do a lot to make it clear to residents what they can expect. That is largely where the differences in resident satisfaction come from. “It is very important to make it clear in advance what the rights and obligations of the housing association are, but also those of the resident,” says Ruth Verhagen, property management manager at Woonbedrijf. He is responsible for the renovation of the Coevering district in Geldrop.
“People sometimes expect more. But if we make one street fancy, we will have less money for the other streets. We are there for the bigger picture to keep everything affordable and keep rents low.”
Woonbedrijf admits that they should have involved the residents of Coevering in the renovation plans earlier. “If we had presented the plans earlier, the residents would have had more input. We have learned that and we will do that much earlier in future projects,” says Verhagen.
“Your home will be completely different within a few weeks.”
All housing associations are convinced that residents will get a better home. Energy label A or A plus, spend less money on heating, airtightness and mechanical ventilation. But the home must be used properly and that often does not happen.
Linda Luiten, social project leader at Woonbedrijf, adds: “For example, people have the habit of opening a window, but that does not always go together with the new mechanical ventilation system. Or they tape up the ventilation grille because they find it draughty. But Ventilation is important to prevent mold. Your home has changed completely in just a few weeks and sometimes people have to adjust their behavior accordingly.”
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Residents about their experiences with the large-scale renovation