Start of construction in Mussum: Ground-breaking ceremony for first family

The ground-breaking ceremony for the Hessling family marked the official start of building construction in the new development area in Mussum. The city of Bocholt has been providing housing for its citizens for over 30 years thanks to its established building land management programme. Despite the undiminished high demand, the aim of the administration remains the creation of affordable property for families.

The city of Bocholt marks another milestone in local property market development with the official start of construction in the Mussum district. City planning officer Dave Welling and a team from the property and land management department gathered on the plot owned by the Pascal and Kristina Hessling family to break ground together with the architect and the building construction company.

The Hessling family are the first developers to open the new area, following an intensive phase of planning and development. "This visible progress is the result of strategic building land management, which the city of Bocholt has been successfully pursuing for over three decades", says Bocholt's city planning officer Dave Welling.

Thanks to this instrument, the administration is able to offer building plots "at moderate prices", says Welling. A key feature of this Bocholt speciality is the absence of profit-oriented marketing.

The city deliberately does not base its pricing on the free market, but instead prioritises social compatibility and the facilitation of home ownership. According to the city administration, the demand for building land in Bocholt remains very high, which is reflected in an extensive list of interested parties. The city is endeavouring to meet this demand through continuous planning procedures in all districts.

The availability of land plays a central role in the development of new neighbourhoods such as Mussum. The administration also attributes the fact that this model has endured for decades to the consistent support of local politicians. "As an administration, we can only thank them for their backing", says Welling.

The political backing enables the city to stand up to the purely market-based commercialisation interests of investors and instead create sustainable offers for families and those interested in building. While the initial work has already begun, all those involved are looking forward to the coming months with confidence, in which the neighbourhood will rapidly take shape through building construction.

You can find more information on urban housing plots on the topic page www.bocholt.de/wohnbaugrundstuecke