High home prices forcing Netherlands city dwellers to go tiny, especially in Amsterdam

Tiny houses with a floor space of 50 square meters or less are gaining popularity in the Netherlands due to the sharp price increases in the housing market. Tiny homes are particularly popular in the four large cities, and especially in Amsterdam, according to the Kadaster, the Dutch land registry.

Last year, 5,100 tiny homes were sold in the Netherlands. Half (51 percent) were located in one of the four largest cities - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. And Amsterdam holds the largest share - 38 percent of tiny homes in the Netherlands are in the capital.

The number of tiny homes in Amsterdam skyrocketed from 600 in early 2000 to 2,230 in 2015 and then fell slightly to 1,925 last year. “Amsterdam has traditionally been more attractive to young people than other municipalities, and they are apparently willing to settle for fewer square meters now that house prices have risen sharply,” the researchers said.

Last year, a tiny house in the four largest cities cost an average of 367,000 euros. Like with the rest of the housing market, Amsterdam was by far the most expensive. Amsterdam residents pay 1.4 times more for their tiny house than a resident of Utrecht, 1.7 more than a Rotterdam resident, and 1.8 times more than a buyer from outside the four large cities.