West Maas en Waal participates in the "My house is in Gelderland" challenge

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Build your own home in a vacant building

The province of Gelderland, together with the municipality of West Maas en Waal, is looking for enthusiastic residents who want to make the old village hall De Hanze in Maasbommel and the original Gravin van Rechterenschool in Appeltern their home. The group with the best idea will be allowed to purchase the building and get started. The province selected a number of suitable vacant locations in Gelderland for the 'My house is in Gelderland' Challenge.

Alderman René Cruijsen: "We are proud that two vacant buildings in our municipality have been selected for this Challenge. We hope this will give residents of our municipality the opportunity to realize their dream home. They will receive guidance from professionals in developing their plans. And in this way, these two special buildings will be preserved for the municipality. A win-win situation!"

The Challenge: more homes, fewer vacancies, nicer neighborhoods

Peter Kerris, deputy for the province of Gelderland, explains the principle behind the Challenge: “Many people are looking for a home, while at the same time there are buildings standing empty. As a province, we connect house hunters with vacant buildings through 'My house is in Gelderland'. Together with us, they make a plan and convert the buildings into homes. This also makes it a lot more pleasant for local residents to live there. In this way, we work together to create extra homes, reduce vacancy rates, and make neighborhoods and districts more sustainable."

Deputy Peter Kerris visits projects

On Saturday, September 26, Deputy Peter Kerris will visit a number of projects participating in the Challenge. He will also visit De Hanze in Maasbommel together with Alderman René Cruijsen. Interested parties are also welcome to view the building on that day. Registration is mandatory in accordance with coronavirus regulations.

Planning the Challenge

For these two projects, the province and municipality are looking for two groups of residents to work together on a plan. Anyone interested (groups or individuals) can register via the website from October 1 to November 1, 2020.