News

14 March 2023

Campus NL 2023-2027: research for and by universities

Campus NL 2023-2027: research for and by universities

Universities in the Netherlands face a number of common challenges in managing their campuses. These include dilemmas concerning hybrid working and studying , dynamics in the numbers of incoming students, the shortage of (student) housing, sustainability and a healthy work environment. Over the next four years, the Campus NL research project will bring together these challenges to make campus management at each of the 14 Dutch universities more effective and efficient.

09 February 2023

Purchase prices continue to fall on the Dutch owner-occupied housing market for the time being

Purchase prices continue to fall on the Dutch owner-occupied housing market for the time being

While the number of homes sold in the existing housing stock remains fairly stable, the fall in purchase prices continues steadily in the fourth quarter of 2022. The sharp rise in mortgage interest rates in recent months has direct consequences for households' borrowing capacity. In combination with the recent fall in purchase prices, this rise in mortgage interest rates is also making potential buyers more risk-averse.

20 December 2022

VR increases confidence in renovations

VR increases confidence in renovations

A resident is facing a major renovation of his rental property. What does the renovation entail? What choices can a tenant make himself? What kind of preparations should he make, and what will the final result look like? Virtual reality enables residents to walk through all of the stages in half an hour, from demolition to the final result.

07 November 2022

Rising mortgage rates put heavy pressure on house prices

Rising mortgage rates put heavy pressure on house prices

As a result of skyrocketing inflation, the European Central Bank (ECB) has raised refinancing rates several times, which has also caused mortgage rates in the Netherlands to triple in the past three quarters. These sharply rising mortgage rates directly affect households' borrowing capacity. In addition, it puts indirectly pressure on consumer confidence in the general economy and in the owner-occupied housing market. A drop in the purchase price like in the third quarter of 2022 is logical in such a situation, even if the number of homes sold still remains fairly constant.

26 September 2022

The step between technology and change

The step between technology and change

Bringing about change in construction is difficult. In circular construction projects, for instance, ambitions are often not achieved because cooperation has to take place differently than what we are used to. Although circular techniques are often available, their deployment for transition to a circular construction economy does not happen automatically. Professor of Construction Cultures Alfons van Marrewijk makes the necessary connection between engineering and social sciences so that change does take place.

30 August 2022

Digitalisation in a galaxy of construction law

Digitalisation in a galaxy of construction law

“Construction law can be seen as part of a galaxy: different parties, legal frameworks and interests all influence each other,” describes professor Evelien Bruggeman. “Balancing those forcefields is paramount to give technological developments a place in society.” On 16 September, the professor of Building Law at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment will give her inaugural speech, showing how digitisation in the built environment can find a place in the galaxy of construction law and the force field of technological and societal innovation.

05 August 2022

‘Perfect storm’ seriously threatens the housing market

‘Perfect storm’ seriously threatens the housing market

The number of offered and sold new-build homes in the first quarter of 2022 appears to have fallen back to the level as it was shortly after the credit crisis (2008-2013). In addition, the number of new build homes for which a building permit was granted in the first five months of 2022 was about 15% lower than in the previous year. In the owner-occupied sector, this is even more than 20%.

13 June 2022

Bridges and quay wall restoration with an eye for the environment and the city.

Bridges and quay wall restoration with an eye for the environment and the city.

City centres have become increasingly busier, and the pressure on the sometimes several centuries-old infrastructure is growing, for example due to freight traffic. Many municipalities in the Netherlands face major maintenance challenges, with costs running into billions of euros. Furthermore, the changes in the short term come on top of major transitions in the area of climate adaptation, circularity, energy and transport.

12 May 2022

Rising mortgage interest rates dampen price growth on the owner-occupier market

Rising mortgage interest rates dampen price growth on the owner-occupier market

The number of mortgage applications reached a new record in the first quarter of 2022 due to an enormous increase in the number of refinancings of existing mortgages. Consumers are thus anticipating the first increases in mortgage interest rates. However, this rise in interest rates in the first three months of 2022 has also had an impact on the maximum borrowing capacity of households.

09 March 2022

Solution for making 847,000 outdated tenement flats more sustainable

Solution for making 847,000 outdated tenement flats more sustainable

Many of the outdated typical Dutch tenement flats are large consumers of energy and therefore often end up on the demolition list. However, these typical flats do not have to disappear from the city scene. Symbiotic Urban Movement (SUM) - a team of students from Delft University of Technology - has developed a plan to sustainably transform all 847,000 tenement flats in the Netherlands and create more housing.