The municipality of Arnhem aims to establish at least 10 locations over the next 5 years where people jointly develop or manage their homes. The municipality wants collective living to be a fixed part of housing policy, complementing the approach to the housing crisis.

Many people in Arnhem are looking for living arrangements where they can share facilities and have more contact with their neighborhood. Collective living offers an alternative: residents build or manage together, share, for example, a meeting room, and have more say over their living environment. The municipality wants to support this form of living more and better.

Dare to look differently at living

Paul Smeulders, alderman for Housing: The housing crisis requires more than just building as many houses as possible. We also need to dare to look differently at how we live. Collective living helps to build affordably, use space more cleverly, and strengthen neighborhoods. Plus, it fits very well with a city where we look out for each other.

Arnhem no longer wants collective living to depend on separate initiatives but wants to include it as a standard part of new housing projects. The municipality actively supports resident groups by connecting them to locations, housing corporations, and developers.

At 10 locations in the city

Within 5 years, Arnhem wants to realize at least 10 places in the city for collective living forms. Some locations are already under construction, others have plans in preparation, including Rijnpark, Rijkerswoerd, Schuytgraaf, Malburgen, and along the Nijmeegseweg.

The projects differ per location and form. Sometimes it concerns groups of seniors who want to live together, sometimes about living together. Such as mixed living communities or rental projects where residents jointly manage the property.

Together with partners

Arnhem works in this approach together with housing corporations, the province of Gelderland, and national organizations experienced in collective living. Subsidies and loans are used to make projects possible.