Residential real estate
The energy we use in the residential real estate sector is a major source of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions linked to homes come from two main sources. The first is natural gas, used to keep our houses warm, to heat water, and to cook. The second is electricity, which we primarily use for lighting homes and to power and charge appliances and gadgets. Increasingly, we also use electricity to heat and cool homes, and to charge electric vehicles. We are the largest mortgage provider in the Netherlands. We finance more than 1 million homes in the Netherlands with our subsidiary mortgage providers, Obvion, Freo, and Vista. Next to that, we act as real estate developer via our subsidiary BPD and proposition SmartBuilds. We feel the responsibility and ambition to play a role in the transition to accelerate fossil-free living.
Our services
In the Netherlands, more than 1,000 mortgage advisors are trained as ‘Sustainable Living Advisors’. We contribute in making homes more sustainable by knowledge development and sharing.
We encourage our customers to invest in making their homes more sustainable. For example, we offer them the opportunity to:
To provide insight and help we work together with homeQgo. Customers gain real-time insights into how they can make their homes more sustainable (e.g., with insulation, solar panels, or a heat pump). They can see their potential energy savings per year, the prognosis for the payback period of the investment, and possible subsidies available.
To support our intermediary mortgage brokers with financial advice around sustainable housing, our subsidiary Obvion developed the "Conversion Plan" tool jointly with Eneco in 2021. The Conversion Plan offers the same functionality as the HouseScan, but is specifically designed for professional brokers. Uniquely, the tool is linked to Eneco, so that the energy supplier can immediately issue a quotation for the execution of the work.
Cooperation BPD Housing Fund The Dutch housing market faces a particular shortage of affordable and sustainable rental homes for middle-income households. We aim to help find and implement a solution to this problem through our subsidiary Bouwfonds Property Development (BPD), using the BPD Housing Fund called Woningfonds (established at the end of 2019). With this housing funds we help to build and rent out sustainable housing for the middle market. By the end of 2022, we were renting out 1,027of these properties, with a further 2,746 under construction or in acquisition. We aim to deliver 15,000 new affordable and sustainable rental homes by 2030.
SmartBuilds
Rabobank wants to contribute to reducing the housing shortage in the Netherlands. That is why in 2021, we announced our aim to build 12,000 affordable, highly energy-efficient, temporary, modular homes in the Netherlands through "Rabo SmartBuilds" by 2031. Since the homes can be placed temporarily, the building regulations are less strict than for permanent structures. The homes can be built and renovated quickly, and can be moved to a new location within 15 years. Municipalities are important partners in the SmartBuilds Program because they can make land available on which to place the homes. Based on the current schedule, construction will begin in late 2023.
Examples put into practice
The following articles are in Dutch only.
