Rents skyrocketing in areas around large Dutch cities

Municipalities bordering the large Dutch cities are seeing large population growth, which means that rents in these municipalities are also rising sharply. In the first quarter of this year, free sector rents nationwide increased an average of 4.9 percent compared to a year ago, while some areas around the Randstad saw increases of more than 18 percent, rental broker Pararius said on Wednesday, NU.nl reports. 

In Haarlem the rent per square meter increased by 11.2 percent to 18.89 euros per month. Almere saw an average increases of 15.2 percent to 13.78 euros per month. Both cities are close to Amsterdam and are therefore an alternative for new tenants looking to live in the Dutch capital. In Schiedam, close to Rotterdam, the rent per square meter increased by an average of 18.3 percent to 13.73 euros per month. 

The rent increases in the Randstad itself seem to be slowing down. In Amsterdam, the increase in the first quarter was even below the national average at 3.6 percent. Amsterdam is still an expensive city to rent in, however, at an average of 23.28 euros per month per square meter. In Rotterdam and Utrecht, the rent per square meter was at least 7.5 percent higher in the first quarter of 2019 than in the same quarter last year.

Eindhoven saw the highest free sector rent increase of the five large Dutch cities. Tenants in this city paid an average of 14.94 euros per square meter per month, 9.7 percent more than in the first quarter last year. Outside the Randstad, Eindhoven is now one of the more expensive cities to live in, Pararius said.