750,000 euros are needed to prepare part of the Prins Bernhardhoeve site in Zuidlaren for the arrival of flexible homes. The Tynaarlo city council thinks it is a lot of money and wants the houses to be used even after a number of years.
The municipality of Tynaarlo must house 94 status holders (asylum seekers with a residence permit) this year. There is a hurry, because last year the municipality did not fulfill the task that was imposed on it by the province of Drenthe. 12 status holders were housed too little. They will be added to the 82 that Tynaarlo has to offer shelter this year.
“So the pressure is high,” says responsible alderman Miguel Ririhena (GroenLinks). “We have to speed up and so we are asking for this money for preparing the ground for construction, although we do not yet have a clear idea of what the houses will look like.”
In total, this concerns a maximum of 100 ‘beds’ to reduce the pressure on the housing market in Tynaarlo. Because Tynaarlo has relatively few social rental homes, the municipality now wants to build flexible homes. These must be placed on the back of the PBH site between 5 and 7 years old.
The council is asking 750,000 euros for the construction work alone. What the houses will look like is still the question. Tonight, both ‘housing units’ and single-person houses were discussed.
Council member Henk Middendorp (CDA) wonders why three-quarters of a million should already be released by the council. “Otherwise we will never get the houses built before the end of the year,” says Ririhena.
Gezinus Pieters (VVD) prefers that the houses – after they have served as temporary accommodation for status holders – remain standing. “They should not be refined caravans, but homes that we can later sell for positive land exploitation. Why else would we pay 7.5 tons for such homes? We are not such a wealthy municipality.”
According to Ririhena, it is difficult to opt for permanent residence on the site of the flex homes. “Then you have different decision-making and that is not possible in the short term. That is why we opt for flex homes.”
The GroenLinks alderman begged the Tynaarlo city council for confidence. “Then we can move on. If we do not meet our target, the province will take over management. Then they will designate homes and that would mean that people from our municipality who have been waiting for a rental home for a long time will have to wait even longer.”
In two weeks time, flexible housing in Zuidlaren will be discussed again.