Mid-range renters out of luck in big cities; 450 candidates per home in Amsterdam
People looking for a mid-range rental home in one of the Netherlands’ five large cities are increasingly out of luck. Supply is dropping almost as fast as demand is increasing, new figures from rental platforms Pararius and huurwoningen.nl show. In Amsterdam, there is an average of 450 candidates per mid-range rental that becomes available, Parool reports.
The available supply in the segment with rents up to 1,162 euros has decreased by 20.2 percent in one year, while demand has grown by 25.4 percent. In the five large cities, homes in this segment are online for an average of seven days, compared to 22 days for homes in the private sector with higher rents.
The development in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, and Eindhoven show the massive amount of pressure on the rental market, Pararius director Jasper de Groot told Parool. “The shortages are enormous and demand is particularly visible in the mid-rent segment. The five large cities have a high concentration of tenants and landlords and policy changes usually have a quick effect.”
“The dynamics that we are now seeing in the urban areas, such as the explosive demand and the increasing supply, are a reflection of the rental market problems throughout the Netherlands,” De Groot said.
He blames the Affordable Rent Act, which took effect on July 1 this year and regulated rents for mid-market rentals by also applying the social housing points system to them. This means that the landlord can only charge rent for what the home has to offer in terms of size and facilities. The aim was to increase the supply of affordable rental homes for middle incomes.
“According to the government, this would theoretically result in more affordable rental homes being offered on the rental market and would increase the choice of cheaper rental homes for tenants. However, the developments in the area of supply and demand show the opposite effect of what was intended with the law,” De Groot said.
Landlords protest that the rent regulation makes it impossible for them to earn a living and many are selling their rentals into the owner-occupied market. According to Pararius and huurwoningen.nl, the figures show that smaller rental properties, in particular, fall back into the regulated segment due to the new law and are then often sold instead of re-rented.
