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Bicycle storage area and outdoor area for new houses

Press release | 19-08-2008

A bicycle storage area and an outdoor area are to be made compulsory once again for new houses.

In recent months, Minister Vogelaar of Housing, Communities and Integration has appealed to market players in the construction world to respond to consumer demand for terraces, storage areas and balconies, which is not currently being met.
 
Together with the largest four Dutch municipalities, Minister Vogelaar commissioned research into the extent to which the market players were fulfilling their responsibilities. The conclusions of the research were that many new buildings have no outdoor area and/or no outdoor storage area and that market forces cannot be relied on to ensure that such facilities are provided. As a result, Minister Vogelaar has decided to reintroduce rules making these facilities mandatory in the relevant construction regulations.

As part of deregulation in 2003, the compulsory inclusion of outdoor areas and an outdoor storage area in new buildings was removed from the Building Decree (Bouwbesluit). In 2007, the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht together with the consumer organisations the Cycling Association (De Fietsersbond), the National Housing Advice Agency (VACpunt Wonen) and the Association of (Prospective) Homeowners (Vereniging Eigen Huis) highlighted the lack of these facilities.