BPD sells 8.903 homes in 2021

Walter de Boer, BPD’s CEO, commented as follows: ’BPD was able to put a large number of properties on the market in both the Netherlands and Germany, made possible in part by the strong stock position we have built up over past years and now serving as a base. As we look towards the future, we will focus on participating in tenders and making significant acquisitions, particularly where large-scale area developments are concerned, so that we can continue to add sufficient numbers of affordable homes to the housing stock in the Netherlands and Germany. To achieve this, we will need dozens of larger sites for housing construction on the edges of cities and beyond their boundaries, in addition to our current urban sites. Scaling up and integrating different social tasks within the same space should ultimately lead to an easing of the pressure on the housing market.

In 2021, BPD Woningfonds achieved strong growth by increasing the share of mid-market rental homes in the Netherlands. At the end of 2021, 766 mid-market rental homes were being let, with another 421 homes under construction and 2,277 in the acquisition phase. This puts the fund well on course to complete more than 15,000 sustainable and energy-efficient new-build rental homes for households with an income of one to two times the average within 10 years. By 2028, the planned 15,000 mid-market rental homes should have tenants. Exploratory talks are under way with Rabobank regarding an increased expansion of BPD Woningfonds. ’Finding affordable housing – whether to rent or to buy – will remain difficult for homeseekers over the next three to five years. There are simply too few homes available for those middle-income households. They represent a large group of people who earn too much to qualify for social housing and are unable to get a big enough mortgage to buy when houses are in short supply. If we are to turn the tide, we will need to scale up to larger area developments with scope for both sustainable new builds and development of the natural environment.’

De Boer continued: ’We at BPD are convinced that housing can be viewed as a driver for spatial development and that various social tasks (housing, climate, energy, nature, mobility) can be integrated within the same space. This is why we continue to focus on what we were founded for in 1946: to provide affordable housing for the large group of households with an income of 1 to 2.5 times the average. Cooperation with municipalities and social housing associations is of great importance when it comes to fulfilling this ambition.’