You may already know this, but in addition to being co-initiator of TinyFindy, I am also founder and project leader of the Tiny House Nederland foundation. This non-profit volunteer organization is committed to making small and sustainable housing in the Netherlands possible for the many people who want it. With a team of volunteers throughout the country, we have been working on this mission for over four years. Now, we have joined forces with a number of wonderful other initiatives that, like us, are committed to citizen initiatives on the housing market. Together we are sending a strong signal to our government. Below you can read the message we are communicating, which can also be found on the Tiny House Nederland website.
On Tuesday May 19th the House of Representatives will hold a written consultation round about further choices in the context of the draft National Environmental Vision (NOVI). In a letter to Parliament of April 23rd, Minister of Domestic affairs Kajsa Ollongren communicated her elaboration of the new guiding choices in the NOVI to members of the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, these choices do not include citizen initiatives in the housing market such as self-build and (collective) private commissioning.
For that reason, the Tiny House Nederland foundation has sent a letter to the members of parliament, in collaboration with a number of strong partners who have also been committed to private housing initiatives for years.
In the letter that you can download below, we request that Members of Parliament remind Minister Ollongren of a number of her own intentions with regard to citizens’ initiatives. We emphasize that giving space to citizens’ initiatives in the housing market not only has various social benefits, but is also very economically justifiable.
In 2020, with the introduction of the Environmental Act (Omgevingswet), it cannot be the case that all (financial) space on the housing market is left to project developers and housing corporations alone. More than 30% of the Dutch population is interested in designing his / her living environment. These wishes are often not in line with the interests of the developers, so that there is little diversity and customization in the current housing supply. In our so-called participation society, it seems obvious that individuals are offered the opportunity to build their own house or have it built, be it individually or together with others. Whether that is a Tiny House or a group of houses on a farmyard, a Knarrenhof or an eco-village. Give people the opportunity to come up with and develop ideas themselves. Only then will you see truly sustainable innovation and the diversity of society flourishing.
We would like to thank the very valuable input of Jacqueline Tellinga, member of Expert Team Eigenbouw and an advocate of self-construction for many years, and the collaboration with the following initiatives:
- Pieter Parmentier – Stichting Erfdelen erfdelen.nl
- Frans Soeterbroek – Coalitie bewonersinitiatieven wonen Utrecht en De Ruimtemaker deruimtemaker.nl
- Peter Prak – Stichting Knarrenhof knarrenhof.nl
- Thijs van Mierlo – Landelijk Samenwerkingsverbond Actieve bewoners (LSA) lsabewoners.nl
- Arie Lengkeek – operatie wooncoöperatie operatiewooncooperatie.nl en Rotterdams woongenootschap www.rotterdamswoongenootschap.nl
- Robert Visser – Federatie van Groningse Wooninitiatieven i.o. universaldesign.nl
- Trevor James – COOPLINK, kennisnetwerk wooncoöperaties cooplink.nl
You can download the letter here.
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