Rents increased by 4.9% on average in July

Renting a home was on average 4.9 percent more expensive in July than a year earlier, reported Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The price increase was less steep than in July 2024, when rents saw the biggest rise in over 30 years. Nevertheless, it is a significant increase compared to previous years. Renting social housing from housing corporations, in particular, became more expensive.

According to CBS, housing corporations own approximately two-thirds of rental properties. People renting social housing from these corporations paid an average of 5.1 percent more than a year ago. Rents from other social housing providers rose by 4.7 percent. Rents in the private sector rose by 4.4 percent.

Rotterdam leads the four large cities in terms of the highest rent increases. Here, rents rose by 5.3 percent. This was mainly due to the influence of tenant changes, according to CBS. When a rental property gets a new occupant, the rent is allowed to increase by more than with a regular rent increase. Excluding these changes, rents in Rotterdam rose by 4.1 percent.

At the provincial level, rents rose most in Flevoland in Drenthe. In both provinces, rent increases averaged 5.2 percent. Limburg saw the lowest increase, at 4.5 percent.

In July of last year, rents rose by an average of 5.4 percent. This last occurred in 1993. Starting in July 2024, landlords in the social housing sector were allowed to raise rents by up to 5.8 percent. This was a higher percentage than in previous years and, according to CBS, the main reason for the increase.