The cost of renting a home in the non-rent controlled sector continues to rise, according to housing platform Pararius in its latest quarterly report.

Throughout the Netherlands as a whole, rents have risen 6.2% year on year to €13.50 a square metre. Rents rose most – 6.9% – in Rotterdam. In Amsterdam they were up 6.3% and in The Hague 5.4%.

‘Over the past two years, rents have risen much more sharply in the urban Randstad conurbation,’ said Pararius director Jasper de Groot. ‘In particular Amsterdam and its surroundings have been outperforming the rest. There is a major shortage of rental properties for people on middle incomes and that is driving rents upward.’

There are some 326,000 non-rent controlled rental homes in the Netherlands. This means just one in 20 properties is available for rent to people earning more than €35,000 a year.