Press Release: New expansion of Campus Yours to add another 620 ‘gas-free’ homes for first-time homebuyers and students

Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance has commissioned Ballast Nedam and VORM to construct another 423 starter homes and 197 self-contained student homes on Leiden’s ‘Campus Yours’ campus. The energy-efficient apartments are investments by three Dutch pension funds: BPL Pensioen, the Pension Fund for the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Industry (PME), and the Pension Fund for the Butchers Industry (Pensioenfonds Slagers).

The new homes, which are located near the Lammenschans railway station and Leiden’s historic city centre, will be completed with no gas connections. The homes will be heated by a combination of a heat pump boiler, a heat-recovery ventilation system, and solar panels, all of which will also be used to generate energy. Ballast Nedam and VORM are responsible for developing the area and constructing the homes. The plan also provides for the construction of commercial space to be used for business activities aimed mainly at the residents.

Syntrus Achmea RE&F, which has had a total of 700 student and starter homes on the Yours Leiden campus in its portfolio since 2015, launched a second project at the end of last year involving the construction of 465 student homes on behalf of the Achmea Dutch Residential Fund (ADRF). BFL Pensioen will be adding 197 student homes and 140 starter homes of the total of 620 units currently under development to its investment portfolio, while PME and the Pension Fund for the Butchers Industry are signing for 148 and 135 starter homes, respectively. The third project will complete the Yours Leiden development project. Syntrus Achmea RE&F will be investing in a total of 1,785 homes on the campus on behalf of its clients.

Syntrus Achmea RE&F CEO George Dröge: ‘Affordable starter homes in the Randstad conurbation fill a significant demand, especially now that buying a home has become virtually out of reach for this group. We are proud that we have succeeded, together with our partner the City of Leiden, in meeting this demand. An added benefit is that these energy-efficient homes are centrally located and an excellent investment.’

Besides the campus, Syntrus Achmea RE&F also operates in other locations around Leiden: in May 2017, for example, a total of 76 apartments were completed on Wassenaarseweg in the city’s Boerhaave district. In Leiden’s city centre, it is currently constructing the Lorentz building, where Syntrus Achmea RE&F will be purchasing 173 apartments, office buildings, commercial spaces and a 198-unit parking garage.