housing shortage

Dutch rail company NS is looking into building thousands of homes above the railways around Utrecht Central Station, Amsterdam Sloterdijk, and The Hague Central Station. NS wants to use the money it expects to earn with this to modernize the train stations, RTL Nieuws reports.

Amsterdam residents are more concerned about the housing shortage in the city than the crowds of tourists or crime, according to a bi-annual survey the municipality did among 2,378 residents, Het Parool reports.

57 percent of respondents called the housing shortage their main concern. This is especially a worry for young people between 16 and 29 years old. 38 percent are worried about tourism, and 31 percent about crime. 

About half of the residents think that Amsterdam is heading in the right direction. 39 percent disagree. 

A group of six young Amsterdam residents moved into a part of a monumental building on Jan Luijkenstraat on Sunday afternoon. The squatters believe that the owner of the building wants to open a hotel there, and they "don't want that to happen", their spokesperson said to AT5.

Rents in the Netherlands free sector continue to rise, especially outside the four large cities. The average rental price in the Netherlands increased by nearly 6 percent compared to a year ago, according to figures rental housing site Pararius released on Tuesday, NOS reports.

More high-rise buildings are needed in Amsterdam to compensate for the increasing housing shortage in the Dutch capital, Maxime Verhagen, chairman of Bouwend Nederland and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, said in an interview with the Telegraaf.

Verhagen calls for the brake on building high-risers to be lifted in the city. "Should you maintain that brake? That is the question if you want affordable housing in the middle segment."

The departing Dutch government's policies inadvertently caused the current shortage in new housing facing the Netherlands, according to the NVB association for developers and construction. The association is calling for the new government to appoint a "strong minister for housing and building" who, when taking measures, also considers the consequences for the construction sector, ANP reports.

The student housing shortage in Amsterdam is getting worse and worse, and if nothing is done about it, students will start opting for universities in other Dutch cities, a group of Amsterdam universities, colleges and housing corporations said in an urgent call to the municipality. According to them, Amsterdam needs at least 2 thousand new student homes per year, Het Parool reports. 

Due to the housing shortage, Amsterdam is falling behind on placing refugees in homes. The municipality now wants to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the city from next year, De Volkskrant reports.