Service Apartments popular due to no obligations

Not so long ago this type of apartments was not so popular. But a service apartment that goes on with time is quite good. “My garbage is taken care of, I don’t have to work on the yard and I live very well.”

For sale: a two room apartment in the Hobbemaflat in Bilthoven for just EUR 30,000. You will have to pay more for a garage box a bit further in the village, on the Komentenlaan. The explanation is simple, says Dennis Jurgens, secretary of the association of the service building users. "When you buy here you fall under the housing law, and can not receive a mortgage. Therefore you need to have that money ready."

Little Soestdijk he calls the housing complex in the green neighbourhood of North Bilthoven. The building is lovely, built in the middle of the previous century, red bricks, black roof, a spacious yard in front. Jürgens (58) has been living at the Hobbemaflat for quite some time. After his divorce three years ago it became necessary for him to find another residence and he came across the service apartment building. “People I tell this to immediately make a condolence-face, but you must look beyond the image. I have a beautiful two-room apartment, I don’t have to work on the yard, I can leave my car and if there is something wrong I can just call the building manager. In addition, people here know each other.” At the time he moved in, there were fourteen vacant apartments, now almost everything is occupied. This is due to several provisions, says Jurgens. Except buying, renting is now also possible, a number of service cost obligations are removed and a relatively young inflow of residents also contributes for an increasing interest. The 400 euro of service costs must not be seen as an obstruction, thinks Jurgens. “This includes among others heating, maintenance, the building manager, post delivery and garbage pick up.” It is not too much, says also Director Bosman from the Foundation Facility Management for Service Apartments. His company also manages the building Peter de Hoog in Bilthoven, together with another hundred similar types of buildings in the Netherlands. “We charge 358 euro in De Hoog building. This is less than the average cost for an own residence.” There is another dozen apartments still to be bought in the Bilthoven service apartment building. Prices up to 175,000, there is also possibility for mortgage. “There were 17, the reconstruction is done, within six months everything will be occupied.”

The service apartments meet a certain need and demand, says Bosman. “The new seniors want security and safety, but not to be obliged to use expensive facilities. And with a few smart interventions most of the buildings can be perfectly renovated. Another entrance and better connections, this is what the babyboomers want.” Service apartments that do not meet this demand will “kick the bucket” in a few years, says Bosman. This seems not to be the case for the building Biltstein near the Utrechtseweg street. A few years ago 14 of the 77 apartments were vacant, says the building manager John Groot-Wesselink. “Now we have a waitinglist. Maybe people will think it is easy. For a few more cents I am 24 hours available for them, also if their car doesn’t start or they have problems with the computer. Jurgens, the secretary of the Hobbemaflat building, notices that the requests for a residential space gradually increase. “The last time we had a conversation with a young woman who wanted to rent an apartment for 6 months. She told us she was expecting a baby within a month. Off course people younger than 50 are more than welcome, but a crying baby definitely does not fit in a service apartment building.”

Source: Algemene Dagblad, Saturday, March 20th, 2010