The detached house as a shared house

Find the full story here: Byrummonitor.dk

The architects behind the project Delehus have started an exciting and important debate about the use of our many detached houses, villas, farmhouses and commercial buildings. Louise Heebøll is behind the research project. She suggests that we can meet housing needs and use existing houses much more efficiently.

It is conceived as a municipal initiative, where, for example, existing detached houses are converted into shared houses. The advantages are easy to see. Homeowners may, for instance, be able to afford a new roof, improve the heating supply, and bring life back into empty rooms. And the green agenda is clear. Another initiative, renting out empty attic spaces, could create 22,000 new homes without us having to build new ones according to an analysis carried out by EjendomDanmark. One of the major challenges Louise Heebøll mentions is the accompanying tax rules and legislation that hold back the initiatives. She believes the legislative changes need to take place at state level and be implemented in practice at municipal level.

We need to get started, because we need to see a few good examples. It can be difficult to see the potential in your own house. Do walls need to be moved and does an extra bathroom need to be built? By sharing 10–15% of single-family homes, we can meet both housing demand and population growth, according to the report. A small figure with a surprisingly large impact. The collaborators are EFFEKT and Almenr.