Housing rents rise again, but increase is a four-year low

New tenants are paying an average of 3.1% more for their homes than they would have done a year ago, according to research by housing platform Pararius.

The average second quarter rent rise is the lowest since the second quarter of 2015, and the slow-down is particularly notable in Amsterdam, where the increase was just 2.8%, Pararius said.

In The Hague, rents rose 4%, in Utrecht 0.3% and in Rotterdam, 2.8%, Pararius said. In Eindhoven, however, rents were up 7.3%. Nevertheless, people living in the Netherlands’ fifth biggest city can still rent a 65 square metre home for €957 a month. In Amsterdam, such a property would cost an average of €1,522.

In both Amsterdam and The Hague, the city councils are increasing their grip on the supply of housing costing between €720 (the social housing level) and €1,000, by introducing new income requirements and rules for developers.

The government too is planning to take action on a national scale and home affairs minister Kajsa Ollongren is due to publish her plans in the autumn.

‘This will only put off institutional and private investors, when they are the very people needed to build more more homes,’ Pararius director Jasper de Groot said. ‘If investors don’t know what they are getting into because the rules keep changing, then the risk becomes too big.’

The Pararius research also shows that rents for family homes have risen by 9.2% compared with a year ago, while apartments cost were up 1.7% in price.