Dutch government offers €700m to encourage green building

The Dutch government has rolled out a package worth more than €700m that will help protect jobs in the construction industry whilst improving the environmental performance of new and existing buildings.


The economic downturn has had a major impact on house building across most of Europe and the Netherlands are no exception.

The new package announced this week make €395m available for central government to work with individual cities to stimulate house building.

The Netherlands have some of the strictest environmental building standards in Europe and the new build will be expected to demonstrate energy efficiency measures.

The money will support inner city building projects and move forward existing plans to improve public spaces.

The government believes this move will help save 15,000 construction jobs.

A further €320 million will be released over the next two years to encourage companies and individuals to invest in energy efficiency measures for their properties.

Home owners will also be able to invest in energy-saving measures at the lowest possible cost.

To achieve this, central government plans to set up a special energy conservation fund to guarantee low interest rate loans taken out by private individuals with institutions in the private sector.

The new scheme will safeguard employment and provide incentives to homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

Sam Bond

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