Free sector housing rent down 2%; Big price differences between cities

The average rent in the non-regulated rental sector fell slightly in the first quarter of this year compared to a year earlier. The average square meter price in the past quarter was 16.85 euros, a decrease of almost 2 percent annually. In the first three months of 2022, the price per square meter was still 17.18 euros, rental housing platform Pararius reported on Wednesday based on the rental offers on its site.

Despite the slight decrease on a national level, Pararius recorded some significant price increases in a few large and medium-sized cities. The average square meter price rose the most in The Hague by 6.4 percent compared to the previous year. That amounts to 18.18 euros per square meter.

Rents were 5.7 percent higher in Amsterdam, which still has the highest price per square meter at 25.68 euros. Of the fifteen largest cities, only Nijmegen (-1.2 percent) and Groningen (-0.9 percent) saw a decrease in free sector rental prices.

Pararius director Jasper de Groot said that the increase in the cities is mainly due to demand outpacing supply in the home rental market. According to him, that is partly caused by the bill by Minister Hugo de Jonge (Housing and Spatial Planning) that sets a maximum price in the free sector rent.

As a result, over 327,000 homes from the free rental segment would revert to the cheaper social rental should, and many tenants will no longer be eligible for those homes because their incomes are too high.

Some landlords are selling their rental properties, as well. “These homes then return to the market for the higher incomes, so the middle incomes are again sidelined,” said De Groot.