Average Joe can afford less than 2% of homes on Dutch market

Single Netherlands residents with an average income can barely afford any homes. According to research by mortgage advice chain De Hypotheker, less than 2 percent of the housing supply is affordable to this group, slightly better than last year’s just over 1 percent.

The average income this year is 44,000 euros gross. According to De Hypotheker, with this salary, you can get a mortgage of around 195,000 euros at the current interest rate.

That is more than last year, when people in this group could still borrow 171,000 euros. However, the tight housing market and rising home prices almost negate that positive development.

Commercial director Mark de Rijke called the situation for single people “pretty hopeless.” According to him, they have almost no chance, especially in the Randstad.

In Amsterdam, only 0.1 percent of the housing supply is affordable for the single Average Joe. In Eindhoven, that percentage is also very low at 0.2. In provinces like Groningen, Limburg, and Zeeland, the figures are slightly better. But here, too, the average single-income household can only afford up to 6.5 percent of homes.

“This is in stark contrast to the situation for dual-income households, which has improved considerably in recent years,” De Rijke added.

According to De Hypotheker, the average dual-income household earns 80,000 euros. That would allow them to take out a mortgage of around 367,000 euros. That would cover over 29 percent of the national housing supply, up from over 24 percent last year.

According to De Rijke, there is a growing difference in opportunities for single- and dual-income households. This shows that the focus in housing market policy so far has been very much on family and cohabitation solutions, he said.

House prices have been rising again since June 2023, reaching new record levels. Housing shortages are often cited as a major cause of the sharp price increase.

De Rijke called it a top priority to reduce the housing shortage. But he also believes it is good to continue to look at the diversity of the housing supply, so that the prospects for single people do not lag behind.