New tenants in the non-rent controlled sector are paying 10% more rent than they would have done a year ago, rental housing platform Pararius said on Tuesday.

In particular, small apartments are becoming relatively more expensive and demand for housing just over the rent-controlled threshold of €710 is far outstripping supply.

The problem is becoming so acute in Amsterdam that rents in the suburbs and commuter towns such as Zaandam, Haarlem, Amstelveen and Almere are also going up more sharply, Pararius said.

In Zaandam, for example, new tenants are paying nearly 25% more than a year ago, while in Hoofddorp rents are up 14%.

‘People who earn too much to live in social housing and not enough to get a mortgage are being squeezed,’ Pararius director Jasper de Groot said. ‘People doing a first-time job, freelancers, people who don’t want to buy… there is a large group of people who need a home in the mid-rental category and this group will only grow in the future.’

Over four in 10 of the people who checked the Pararius website for a property in the previous three months wanted a home with a rent of  €711 – €1000. However, only 24% of properties on the website met this demand.