Annual Report 2021

An admirable achievement, considering that COVID-19 was still very much working against us in  2021. Against initial expectations, we had to remain flexible in the face of changing  circumstances. Remote working forced our employees to work together mostly online, whereas  they were used to working mostly at the office. But as stated, none of this hurt our financial  performance. As in 2020, home sales in the Netherlands and Germany seemed almost immune to the virus. 

The major shortage of housing – rising to around 300,000 in the Netherlands in 2022, or 4% of the total housing stock – was the reason underlying this trend. Housing is in danger of becoming unattainable for growing numbers of people, all the more so because the lack of supply keeps pushing up prices, both in the existing stock and in new-builds. House prices hit new record highs  in 2021.