Hanson signs residential pact with The Hague

UK family office Hanson Asset Management has signed an agreement with the municipality of The Hague on the development and acquisition of both private and social rental homes.

Director Alain de Brauwere and Taco van Heusden, director of real estate, signed the long-term agreement on behalf of Hanson during MIPIM. Marnix Norder, head of urban development for The Hague, signed on behalf of the Dutch city.

The municipality also made agreements with housing corporation Vesteda and pension fund administrator Syntrus Achmea as well as Dutch institutional investors in residential property.

The cooperation comes at a time when there is increasing international interest in Dutch real estate. The aim is to attract investors to the residential rental market in the city now that the market for owner-occupied homes is stagnating.

Norder: ‘With Vesteda we are going to get to work on a fixed number of homes a year. With Hanson I have attracted the interest of a foreign investor in the city. I laid the basis for the contacts at Expo Real in Munich and now Hanson has confirmed its willingness to invest in The Hague.'

Hanson is positive about the residential sector in the Dutch city as the population is growing by 6,000 people a year and income levels are also increasing. The municipality expects 1,800 new homes - 90% for rent - to be delivered this year compared to 1,400 last year.

The Hanson family business began as a wool and textiles firm in the mid-1800s, ferrying its wares by packhorse between the UK towns of Huddersfield and Longwood. Over the years Hanson became a multi-billion pound conglomerate before it demerged in the late 1990s into Imperial Tobacco, The Energy Group, US Industries, Millennium Chemicals, leaving Hanson PLC containing the aggregates and bricks business.

Following the demerger Robert Hanson left Hanson PLC to concentrate on the family’s interests. He founded Hanson Asset Management which became a designated advisor to the family’s interests.