Real estate listings in the Netherlands -Why is the volume of a home given? - portal.gcgx.com

12 March 2010 [Friday] @ March 12, 2010 edit

Real estate listings in the Netherlands -Why is the volume of a home given?

I would like to know the purpose for giving the volume (space enclosed by the building in cubic meters) in real estate listings in the Netherlands. Is there a specific reason such as tax implications, cost of heating, etc? Is this done in neighboring countries as well? I am NOT interested in buying real estate. I just came across a newspaper in Dutch, tried to translate it for fun, and became curious about this question.

At last, here's the answer, courtesy of a Dutch friend who's staying with me. In the Netherlands, all land and property is bought and sold by the Square Metre. It is the recognised method. With properties, all floor areas are included in the calculation, not just the Ground Floor, as I had previously supposed.

There might be a tax reason. Some of the unusal Dutch Archetechure springs from the way buildings were taxed. You have seen pictures. Very thin but 3 or 4 stories tall, and pulleys and cranes to move goods and pianos into upper stories. I think taxes were assesed on the lenghth of the frontage. Maybe a ghost of that survives. as meter squared.

My recollection is that they give the ground floor area, not the volume. It's a practical way of describing the size of a property.

Well I'll be... For anyone who reads Dutch (and understands their real estate), here's what I found: ===== Koopprijs ? 367.000 kosten koper Soort object Woonhuis Soort woning Herenhuis Type woning Vrijstaande woning Aantal kamers 5 kamers Woonoppervlakte 140 m2 Perceeloppervlakte 508 m2 Inhoud 418 m3 Soort bouw Bestaande bouw Bouwjaar 1997 Ligging In woonwijk, vrij uitzicht, open ligging Tuin Tuin rondom, zonneterras Achtertuin Ligging zuid, west (15m breed x 10m diep) Garage Aangebouwde stenen garage, carport Verwarming CV-ketelHR combi, (bouwjaar: 1997) ===== Sure looks like cubic meters to me! paf

I agree...that's a curious observation! I looked at some listings from the Netherlands online, and they all provided area (m2) rather than volume. Can you give us more detail about the listing you saw? What, exactly, did it say about the size (area or volume) of the house? Thanks, pafalafa-ga

That is also the way houses and flats are advertised in Germany. There is a formula for the inclusion of a balcony or hipwall areas. I expect that Tecolote72-ga misread or misunderstood the abreviation for square meters used in the Dutch ads.

Sorry I am so late in clarifying the question. Here is one place to view an example: Go to www.funda.nl Click under the leftmost item (again on funda.nl) Click on any home photo. Choose the Kenmerken tab. Read down to Inhoud (sounds like the German word for volume) It is given in cubic meters. This is not always given, but it is in many listings. Thanks for all the comments!

Volume sort of makes sence. A low end mobile home and a nice house might both have 120 square meters of floor space, but the house or a commercial property might have double the volume due to high ceilings and vaulted celings. Neil

Yes, very interesting. Definitely volume, presumably of the five rooms (probably plus kitchen, baths, hallways), totalling 140 m . Since the 418m volume on that base gives a room height of 2.99m, this looks very logical. Perhaps the volume is considered of interest for heating. The 508 m is the area of the lot.

#If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.#

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