4. Subquestion 2

Introduction

Our second subquestion is “What is the difference in legislation and rents between the Kalverstraat and the Grote Houtstraat nowadays?”

We will answer this question by looking through the legislation for both streets and by searching for the rent per square meter.

Results Grote Houtstraat

Legislation

To find the legislation for the Grote Houtstraat we used the Bestemmingsplan.

The Grote Houtstraat is a “Centrumvoorziening A”. This means that people from all over the neighbourhood come here to do their shopping. Generally a “Centrumvoorziening A” is better visited and more expensive than a “Centrumvoorziening B”

So what kind of legislation and regulations are used in a Centrumvoorziening A in Haarlem?

Purpose
- First floor
Shops, Cultural associations, Conference and meeting halls, Offices, Hotels and entrances to parking lots.
- Other floors
Hotel, Cultural associations, Offices and Housing
But once upper floors are being used for housing, their purpose may not change again.

For those purposes several provisions may be situated in and around these buildings such as Structures that are not buildings, streets, gardens, trees and energy provisions.

Constructing and Renovation

There are several regulations concerning changes in and around the buildings. Such as:
- The outer walls of the buildings may only be built against the border set for a neighbourhood.
- Buildings must be build against each other, no open spaces may be found between them.
- Buildings may not be more than four meters higher than the height that has been agreed on for the gutter.
- The gutter may not be higher than the agreed height for the gutter.
- Buildings must have a roof.
- Only one dormer may be situated in this roof, the maximum width for this dormer is 2.5 meters.
- For decorating the front façade of the building, materials may be used if they match the scene and the surrounding buildings.
- The buildings may have a cellar with a maximum depth of 5 meters below the street level.
- Outbuildings may be situated behind the buildings with a maximum height of 3 meters. These outbuildings may contain a rooftop terrace.

Rent

It was quite hard to find an exact amount somewhere. As far as we know, there has never been a research on this subject or at least we couldn’t find it! So we decided to look at shops that are being rented in City Centre locations. We’ve combined those rents and came to the conclusion that one pays approximately 900 euros per square meter per year in the Grote Houtstraat.

Results Kalverstraat

Legislation
The Kalverstraat is meant for different purposes, which doesn't really tell us anything! Some of the buildings are specified for a purpose but most of them aren't.

So what kind of legislation and regulations are there for the Kalverstraat?

Purpose
The statement different purposes means that a building may always be used for:
- housing
- offices
- cultural associations
- public institutions
- shops
- public utilities
When specified the building may also be used for:
- smartshops
- restaurants/ cafés / hotels
- telephone shops
- gambling halls
- change offices
- businesses
- prostitution companies
- sexshops
- parkinglots (or entrances to) for bikes and/or cars

The lowerfloors may however not be used for offices, bussinesses, parkinglots and housing. But there must be an entrance to the housing situated at the upperfloors.

Construction and renovation

There are several regulations concerning changes in and around the buildings. Such as:
- Some buildings may not be reconstructed at all, because they are monuments.
- Buildings beneath the street level may only be used for cellars and public utilities.
- The first floor of buildings must be at least 3,5 meters in height.
- The total building must be at least 9 meters in height.
- The building must or have a flat rooftop or must have a roof that is 2 meters higher than the gutter.
- Rooftop terraces are not permitted.
- The façade must have a strict division in three parts.
- Buildings that are not houses may not be higher than 2 meters.

Note: a lot of buildings have extra legislation because they are or monuments, very old, very fragile or in some other way important to the city.

Rent
The rent in the Kalverstraat per square meter is number 21 in the list of most expensive housing prices in the world. The price per square meter per year is 2000 euros.

Conclusion

We've seen that the legislation for both streets is difficult to understand. Of course there are differences, but those are not really significant. The only thing that catches the eye when you read the regulations for both streets is that the legislation for the Kalverstraat is discribed in far more detail than the legislation for the Grote Houtstraat.

There is a big difference in rent. The rent in the Kalverstraat is much higher than the one in the Grote Houtstraat.

Our hypothesis to the second subquestion; "What is the difference in legislation and rent between the Kalverstraat and the Grote Houtstraat nowadays?" was "The legislation for the Kalverstraat is stricter than for the Grote Houtstraat. Furthermore the rent in the Kalverstraat is much higher than the rent in the Grote Houtstraat."

We can conclude that we were right. Even though there is not much difference in legislation the legislation is far more detailed in the Kalverstraat. The second part of our hypothesis was also right, the rents in the Kalverstraat are much higher than those in the Grote Houtstraat!