Dutch real estate courts foreign investors after housing investment share drops to 1%
The Dutch real estate lobby is launching a new push to bring foreign investors back into the Netherlands’ housing market, following a sharp collapse in overseas investment, FD reports. The effort includes a new international initiative at Provada, the country’s largest real estate trade fair, as data show foreign investors accounted for just 1 percent of total investment in new rental housing last year.
At the three-day Provada real estate fair in June in Amsterdam, organizers have scheduled an “international investors day” for the first time. The aim is to present the Netherlands as a country with a “stable and predictable investment climate,” according to FD, which first reported the initiative.
“There is a great need for foreign capital to achieve our housing construction targets,” Provada director John Schreuter told FD. “With only housing corporations and Dutch pension capital, we will not manage.”
Foreign property investors have reportedly grown increasingly wary of the Dutch housing market in recent years. Higher interest rates, tighter regulation of mid-range rents, and a series of fiscal measures have combined to make investments less attractive, prompting many international players to withdraw.
As a result, the share of foreign investors in the total investment volume of new rental homes dropped to 1 percent last year, according to calculations by real estate adviser Capital Value. In 2022, that figure stood at 32 percent, underscoring the scale of the decline the sector is now trying to reverse.
