The building paradigm shift and its effect on Western European housing stocks

The 20th century saw an enormous worldwide growth of the housing stock. In particular the building boom after WW-II, during which the housing stock in most countries was multifolded, focussed the attention of the housing sector primarily to the planning and realisation of new construction; the consciousness of the enormous maintenance and management task to come was still a far cry. The begin of the 21st century shows a completely different situation that urges for a paradigm shift. New construction in most western countries has faded down below an annual production of 1% of the existing stock, and often well below. Parallel to this, the ageing existing stock draws growing attention. The investments in major repairs, renovation, adaptation and redevelopment count at present for a total turn-over well beyond that of new construction. The awareness grows that life cycle extension of the existing stock is unavoidable. Improving the energy efficiency to the required standards of tomorrow will give this awareness a strong extra boost. Though the change from new addition to the adaptation and transformation of the existing stock is well under way, the consequences of this paradigm shift seem still to be largely neglected. Large parts of the construction and real estate trade seem to stick to business as usual: new constriction, if not on greenfields then in brownfields. The knowledge about how and when to successfully maintain, manage, adapt, transform and redesign has still a way to go. The paper illustrates the paradigm shift in Western Europe, explores the consequences for the management of the housing stock and concludes with recommendations for housing and building policies