The Amsterdamse housing market and the accessibility for newcomers​

In this chapter we provide a number of figures on the Amsterdam housing market in terms of type of housing (rental or purchase; corporation or private) and price (social, mid-priced, expensive). We also outline the developments of the past few years. And the changes that are now taking place and that may be important for the accessibility of the city. We base this chapter largely on the figures from the biennial survey Living in Amsterdam (Wia), as carried out by the Amsterdam municipality department of Research, Information and Statistics and the Amsterdam Federation of Housing Corporations.  

 

The housing stock by ownership, in absolute numbers and in percentages:  

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Source: Wonen in Amsterdam WiA 2023  

 

Summary of the development of the Amsterdam housing stock 2013-2023: 

                                                 2013     2023 

Owner-occupied homes           30.6      28.9 

Corporate rent                          47.0      39.5 

Private rent                               22.3      31.6 

 

Within the rental sector, we distinguish between the social rental sector (rent up to 808 euros/month in 2023; up to 880 euros/month in 2024; allocation according to rules) and the private rental sector (rent above 880 euros/month; no allocation rules). The table below shows enormous growth in the private rental sector 

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Source: Wonen in Amsterdam WiA 2023 

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Summary of the growth of the share of private sector rental properties (in %)

  

​Private rent              33      66,6 

Corporate rent          4        8,4 

Total rent                 13       34,2 

  

The free sector part, i.e. the expensive part of the rental sector, has more than doubled in 10 years. And with that, the part of the housing market where no allocation rules apply has also more than doubled. For newcomers in the city who do not qualify for social housing due to waiting times and rules, this sector is therefore very attractive, despite the high rents. 

  

​The price of living: shift to the expensive segment 

The purchase sector has also become increasingly expensive over the past 10 years. Homes for sale under 187,000 were no longer offered in 2023. In the figure below we see the entire housing stock of Amsterdam, both rental and purchase. With an enormous growth of the expensive segment and a large decrease in the affordable (social and middle segment) part.   
In 2023, 46.8% was still social housing (of which around 37% from housing corporations and 10% from private landlords)  

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Source: Wia 2023 ​​​​​​

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The different sectors of the housing market 

  

Social rental properties from housing corporations  
All independent homes with a rent below €880 (basic) rent/month (2024). This also includes independent youth homes of 20-30 m2 with a temporary rental contract in corporation ownership.   
 
Social rental properties from market parties (both private individuals, investors and institutional landlords)   
All independent homes with a rent below €880 (basic) rent/month (2024). This also includes homes of 20-24 m2 for students and young people that have been built en masse by market parties in recent years (see elsewhere on this website). Tenants in these small independent homes are eligible for rent allowance. In this way, they can still pay the rent of often around €700 (legally based on the rental points).  

Room rental or House sharing 
Private homes in which the rooms are rented separately are also counted as social housing from market parties. After all, with the rental points for a room ("non-independent living space"), the rent usually comes to less than 880 euros/month. In the case of room rental, the home always falls under the rental points system; these homes have never been 'liberalized'. 
This concerns a considerable number: in 2021, 7.8% of all private rental homes were rented out room by room. (source: Wia 2021 table 4.1) 
 
Mid-priced rental corporations and market parties  
This sector has only officially existed since 1 July 2024. The mid-priced rental sector concerns homes with a rent between €880 and €1127 per month (2024 amounts). Due to an adjustment of the rental points system (officially the Housing Valuation System WWS), these homes have an officially regulated.

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Private sector rental  
Officially, these are all rental properties above the 'liberalisation threshold'; the rental threshold based on the rental points system/housing valuation system (WWS). From 1 July 2024, this threshold will be €1,127 per month.  

Tenants of private sector rental properties from private landlords have been paying increasingly more in recent years, and this applies even more to new residents. In Living in Amsterdam 2021 we read about this: The average rent in this sector is €1,368. Recent residents in the private private sector pay even more, namely an average of €1,466. 

    

Owner-occupied homes  
There are virtually no owner-occupied homes in Amsterdam for low and middle incomes  
"Less than 1% of all owner-occupied homes are suitable for low incomes based on WOZ value (WOZ value up to €187,000). Approximately 6% of owner-occupied homes are suitable for a middle income (WOZ value €187,000- €326,000).  
Households with a low or middle income without equity can currently barely afford to buy a house. As much as 94% of owner-occupied homes in Amsterdam are only suitable for high incomes in terms of affordability (WOZ value > €326,000)" (entire paragraph taken from WiA 2023 p. 11). 

The average sales price of a home (apartment and single-family home together) over the past year was 785,117 euros at the beginning of October 2024. The land registry writes:   
When we look at the last 12 months, apartments are sold for an average of €626,919. The average house price is €1,076,707. The average asking price is €785,117. In the last 12 months, the average house value has increased by 6.8%.  
From: https://www.kadasterdata.nl/amsterdam on October 2, 2024. 

 

Amsterdam is becoming an increasingly expensive city, a Jetset City. Research by data company Calcasa, mid-2024, shows that Amsterdam is the most expensive city in the Netherlands. The most expensive neighborhood in the Netherlands is the Diepenbrockbuurt in Amsterdam-Zuid with an average price per home of 2.67 million euros. The Oranje Nassaulaan is the most expensive street in the country with an average home price of 2.6 million euros. The five streets with the most homes over a million are also all in Amsterdam: Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht, Herengracht, Valeriusstraat and Johannes Verhulststraat. 

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Housing market segments and income groups  

For the first time in many decades, the share of social housing in Amsterdam is not larger than the group that is dependent on it. In the expensive segment, the situation is reversed: while 36.8% have a high income, 42.5% of the housing stock consists of expensive homes.   
See the figure below:  

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New residents the highest housing costs 

In the Living in Amsterdam 2021 survey, we read about new residents:   
"Starters on the housing market are confronted with high prices on the rental market and hardly any supply of owner-occupied homes under €314,000. The supply of social housing from corporations is scarce and has a long waiting list, and more and more social housing from private individuals is becoming available for a specific target group, mainly young people and students.  
Recent residents pay a large part of their income on rent, especially when compared to people who have lived in their home for a longer period of time and to households that live in an owner-occupied home. Tenants who recently started renting a home in Amsterdam pay an average of 34% of their income on rent, while recent residents of an owner-occupied home have an average mortgage burden of almost 23%."

 

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Dynamics in the Amsterdam housing market 

  

Despite the general perception that the Amsterdam housing market is locked, 70,000 to 80,000 people settle in Amsterdam every year. In 2023, this number will be 89,000 people. Is the Amsterdam housing market still accessible?  
If the housing market is more or less the same size, only so many newcomers can settle if large numbers of residents also leave the city. And indeed, the number of people leaving is also enormous; in 2023, more than 79,000 people.  

How does this relocation dynamic work? Apparently, large numbers of people can settle in Amsterdam. Where do they end up? And can they stay there? 

 

Research by OIS (2021) shows that most newcomers settle in the private rental sector: "The relocation dynamics in Amsterdam are still relatively high, despite the long waiting times for social housing and the limited supply in the owner-occupied sector. This is mainly due to the high relocation dynamics in the private rental sector. More than half (55%) of recent occupancies take place in a private rental home, while the share of this sector in the housing stock is less than a third."  
Source: WiA 2021 

 

Tenants in this sector much more often have a temporary rental contract. From the Living in Amsterdam 2021 survey:   
"An increasing proportion of the supply is an expensive rental home. These homes are also often released, the turnover is high. This is due to the high rent, but also because an increasing proportion of tenants have a temporary rental contract. Temporary rental contracts are often used in the private rental sector, this is legally permitted for 2 years. Of the recent residents of private rental homes, 42% have a temporary contract (in 2019 this was still 28%)."  
Source: WiA 2021 

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Newcomers therefore mainly end up in the private rental sector and often have a temporary rental contract there. ​

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Source: WiA 2023 

 

Summary: recent residents by housing segment:  

                                                 2013      2023 

Owner-occupied homes           28,9       18,9 

Corporate houses                     34,7       24,5 

Private rent                               36,3       56,6 

 

Figure 14 concerns recent residents, residents who have lived at their last address for less than 2.5 years. These are not only newcomers to Amsterdam, they will also be people who move within Amsterdam. Roughly speaking, you can say that every year just as many people move within the city as new residents from outside the city settle:   
In 2023, 90,745 residents moved within Amsterdam (source: https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/cijfers/detail/60048ned?q=verhuisde%20personen%20binnen%20gemeente%20amsterdam) while in 2023, 89,014 new residents settled. (source: see under demography of this website)   

Accessible to newcomers to the city's housing market in a different way than to existing residents. Among other things, because they have not yet been able to build up a waiting period for a home; a larger proportion of them have a high income and the majority of newcomers are single.  

 

Some tentative conclusions from Figure 14: 

• The private rental sector is the most important part of the Amsterdam housing stock for newcomers and recent movers. It thus makes the most important contribution to the accessibility of Amsterdam. Changes in this sector (see below) will therefore have a direct impact on the accessibility of Amsterdam. 

• Owner-occupied homes do not go en masse to recent residents. Does that refute the story of many estate agents (sources) that the majority of owner-occupied homes within the Ring go to English-speaking newcomers? Or is that true and are it mainly English-speaking newcomers who buy a home after a few years in a private rental home? 

 

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Yearly supply in the various parts of the Amsterdam Housing Market 

Corporations: social, youth housing, mid-term  
De Key is the largest provider and developer of youth housing.  
Stadgenoot and Ymere also have many youth housing units.   

 

    In 2023, the housing corporations rented out the following (rounded) numbers of homes:  

social rent housing                                                    8500 

student housing (independent and dependent)       4000 

foreign students                                                        6000 

private sector rental                                                  1100 

 

Source: https://zigbukcpproduction.blob.core.windows.net/afwc-ksp-web-hupo-portal-p-pub/user_upload/Bestanden_2024/Jaarbericht%202024/AFWC%20Jaarbericht%202024.pdf 

 

Private rental properties: social, mid-priced and expensive.  
Major distinction between small private landlords with a few properties and large institutional landlords with often hundreds of properties.  

Private rental of properties with rooms Also called rooming and room-by-room rental. The owner needs a permit for this. The municipality has determined the maximum number of permits per neighbourhood. This maximum has been reached in some neighbourhoods.  

Special private rental:  

• Specially for students; by a number of private parties such as Belgian XIOR, American Student Experience.  

• In addition, a number of parties offer accommodation for “young international” students on the basis of a hotel permit for Short Stay, such as Student Hotel (now called “Social Hub”), CASA 400, Hotel Jansen. 

• Mixed form of living space for both students - recently also MBO students - as well as working young people and young international professionals, such as Graystar with Our Domain and Our Campus, Cohesion

 

Owner-occupied homes  
Size of the supply of owner-occupied homes  
The supply of owner-occupied homes in Amsterdam is fairly stable: around 10,800 homes in 2017; around 11,500 in 2021. (source: mva)   

According to the land registry, there were 2,341 homes for sale in Amsterdam on October 2,  
2024. From: https://www.kadasterdata.nl/amsterdam on October 2, 2024  

According to the Makelaars Vereniging Amsterdam, almost 8,000 homes were sold in 2023 (number of transactions) (source: https://mva.nl/nieuws/kwartaalcijfers-q1-2024/ 

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Waiting time for social housing and number of applicants 

The number of people looking for social housing in Amsterdam is enormous; around 100,000 people per year. In 2023, 122,500 home seekers responded to at least one advertisement in Amsterdam, 32% more than in 2022. Source: Annual Report 2024 of the AFWC Amsterdam Federation of Housing Corporations, p. 29 see:   
https://zigbukcpproduction.blob.core.windows.net/afwc-ksp-web-hupo-portal-p-pub/user_upload/Bestanden_2024/Jaarbericht%202024/AFWC%20Jaarbericht%202024.pdf  

Because since 2023 the waiting time for a social housing unit has less weight in the allocation (starting position, search behavior and situation now also count), the average registration time for a social housing unit in Amsterdam has dropped to 11.0 years in 2023.   
(source: Annual Report 2024 AFWC p. 29; see above).   

The waiting time for a social housing unit in the Netherlands is longest in a number of municipalities around Amsterdam. In Amstelveen and Haarlemmermeer almost 20 years (source: Parool September 28, 2024; Marc Kruyswijk, Roos van Riel and Tim Wagemakers); in Diemen, Wormerland and Landsmeer in 2021 longer than 17 years (source: NOS on 3, April 24, 2021 Leen Kraniotis and Winny de Jong)  

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Many changes in the private rental sector  

a) Purchase protection of 'buy to let', sale of owner-occupied homes to international and national investors; selling off private rental homes  

Since 1-4-2022, a self-occupancy obligation (also known as purchase protection and rental ban) has been in effect in Amsterdam for homes with a WOZ value of up to 512,000 euros. Homes with a purchase price up to that amount must be occupied by the buyers for the first four years after purchase. In this way, Buy to Let is counteracted. Research shows that by introducing purchase protection, the share of owner-occupied homes purchased by (potential) private landlords fell from 18 percent before the introduction to 6 percent after the introduction. (source: https://onderzoek.amsterdam.nl/publicatie/keep-to-let-en-buy-to-let-in-amsterdam 

 

In 2024, the purchase protection applies up to a WOZ value of 641,000 euros. (source: https://www.amsterdam.nl/wonen-leefomgeving/wonen/opkoopbescherming/).   
More than half of all owner-occupied homes, the more expensive part, are therefore not covered by this protection and can therefore be purchased for rental. Apparently this still happened in 2023, because we see that the share of private rental has continued to rise in 2023 to 31.6% of the total number of homes in Amsterdam.  

In recent years, large international investors have bought up packages of owner-occupied homes in Amsterdam to rent them out in the private sector. These include American investors Blackstone and Hines, German Patrizia, Swedish Heimstaden, Canadian Eres. But also Prince Bernhard Jr.   

b) Affordable Rent Act  
The Affordable Rent Act came into effect on 1 July 2024 and initially only applies to new rental contracts. The core of the law is that part of the private sector rental properties will be regulated via the new rent points system. As a result, properties between 880 and 1127 euros/month have a legal maximum rent, landlords may only rent these properties to people with a middle income and the municipality must enforce these rules, including sanctions.  
This new “middle-priced rental sector” will reduce the private rental sector; these are now the properties above 1127 euros monthly rent.  

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The Affordable Rent Act also stipulates that homes may not be rented to more than 2 'separate' persons. If there is no family, official partners or relationship or family ties and you are with more than 2 people in a home, this is considered room-by-room rental ("rental of non-independent units") for the purposes of this law. And for room-by-room rental, the rental points  

c) Fixed Rental Contracts Act  always apply 
In 2015, temporary rental contracts, particularly in the private rental housing sector, were made legally possible. As of 1 July 2024, this will be prohibited again with the entry into force of the Fixed Rental Contracts Act. Only rental contracts for an indefinite period, also known as fixed rental contracts or permanent rental contracts, are permitted.   
As we saw above, 42% of private rental homes were rented out temporarily in 2021. The effect of the ban on temporary rental will therefore be drastic for the Amsterdam housing market.  

 

There are exceptions to the ban on temporary letting. For example, rental contracts for student rooms or homes remain linked to registration at an educational institution and specific youth homes may still be let for 5 years (with a possible extension to 7 years). Temporary letting under the vacancy law (officially pending demolition or major renovation) also remains possible.   
Anti-squat contracts or contracts for so-called vacancy management do not fall under this because they are not rental contracts but “user contracts.”  

 

Will the number of private rental properties shrink? 

The share of private rental properties is expected to decline in 2024. It will become less attractive for private individuals (particularly private persons) to rent out, partly because both the ban on temporary rental and the Affordable Rent Act came into effect on 1 July 2024. With a number of tax changes regarding the rental of homes that came into effect in 2023 and 2024, it has become less interesting (read: profitable) for private individuals in particular to rent out homes. They have announced that they will sell large numbers of rental homes ("pounding out") in 2024. Some investors, such as Heimstaden and Eres, have also announced that they will sell their rental homes. Large investors will not sell out themselves, but will sell to parties who will do so. For example, the buyers of a large package of rental homes from Eres announced in mid-2024 that they would put these rental homes up for sale when the occupants change. Source: https://www.vastgoedbs.nl/nieuws/canadese-vastgoedbelegger-verkoopt-nederlandse-huurwoningen/  

A sharp decrease in the number of private rental homes in Amsterdam and therefore a large increase in the number of owner-occupied homes cannot yet be seen at the beginning of October 2024. It remains to be seen whether this will still happen.  

 

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The private free sector rental housing has been the most important provider of housing for newcomers in recent years. Changes in this, both in numbers (fewer), in rent (higher) and in type of contract (permanent) make it more difficult for newcomers to settle here in Amsterdam.  

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The possibility of finding housing in Amsterdam or settling here seems to be significantly worsened by all of this.   
Because  

• Temporary contracts are largely prohibited as of 1-1-2024. But not for student rooms and homes, youth homes (5 years; also with private landlords if they are official youth homes) and hospita rental. For room rental to 3 or more people in a home where the landlord does not live himself, also called house sharing, the ban on temporary rental does apply! 

• Fewer private sector rental properties; because part of these properties will now become medium-priced rental properties with regulation, for which it will be more difficult for newcomers to comply with this, to intervene. In addition, part of the private sector rental properties will be converted into owner-occupied properties 

• Remaining private sector rent becomes more expensive 

• Many landlords will not want to rent a private sector home to more than 2 people 

For young people (both domestic and foreign) who want to settle in Amsterdam to study or work, it will probably become more difficult because the supply is decreasing. To quickly find housing, the private rental sector still seems to be the most accessible. But instead of a rent from 1500, we are now increasingly encountering homes with a rent of around 2500. Where now often only 2 people are allowed to live; for most newcomers this is no longer possible or only for a very short time.  
But: 

• The position of people with a middle income - including settlers with a middle income - is improving. Even though there are far too few medium-priced rental homes compared to the number of people with a middle income. 

• A better position for all tenants, because the landlord must include the rental points in the rental agreement. 

• If fewer people settle in Amsterdam, as is officially intended for foreign students, this could lead to less demand for housing and therefore a more relaxed housing market 

  

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Amsterdam less accessible; is that a good thing for the city?

Is the reduction of the accessibility of Amsterdam – in this case as a result of changes in the housing market – bad?   
Does it not increase the chances of existing residents, including those who have recently settled, to settle permanently in Amsterdam?

Does it not create more opportunities for those who grew up here to stay in the city?  
Does it not strengthen the social life in the city and thus the urban social fabric? 

 

 

 

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October 2024 ​​​