eXs Architects

Gallery: Dutch city gives residents a self-build affordable housing catalogue Gallery Gallery: Dutch city gives residents a self-build affordable housing catalogue + 4

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The Dutch city of Nijmegen has collaborated with more than 20 architecture practices to offer its residents the chance to choose from a range of high-quality flat-pack designs for their first home.


Architects, town planners and homeowners have long had to balance the cost of a building with the quality of its design. "Affordable" housing has a reputation for being poor quality (see: crumbling 1960s tower blocks) and ugly (see: crumbling 1960s tower blocks), even if that reputation may be an undeserved one.

Nijmegen's "Ik bouw betaalbaar Nijmegen" ("I build affordable in Nijmegen"), or IbbN, scheme offers first-time homebuyers the chance of nabbing a stylish design far better than anything by Barratt Homes.

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Anyone with an annual income of between €30,000 and €47,000 (£25,600 and £40,200) is eligible to apply for the IbbN loan, and can choose from the 29 designs included in the IbbN catalogue. So far 30 plots have been set aside in the Vossenpels district for homes. The gallery features some of the designs included in the catalogue. The buildings are typically suitable for small families, with two or three bedrooms, and come in detached, semi-detached or terraced form.

Each building has a flat-pack design to keep costs within the restricted budget, and they will also be rapidly assembled on site once ready. Beyond giving low-income families and individuals better-quality housing, it also gives local architects work.

The scheme is modelled on the self-build success of another Dutch city Almere, where hundreds of new homes have been built since 2006 by individuals given free reign to do with plots of land as they wish.


Almere has developed a reputation as a world-leader in the practice, keeping homes (both in houses and flats) affordable and giving the city a completely disjointed and unique look with few buildings looking the same. Opinion is divided over whether this is a good thing.

The idea of promoting self-build this way isn't too far from the Argentinian concept of "Fideicomiso", where architects often work on buildings in tandem with the people who will eventually live or work in them. As large groups pool their money together, it helps with raising finance too.

The Royal Institute of British Architects is hosting a talk on it on 23 April, to see whether it offers a potential solution to some of Britain's housing shortage problems.