Amsterdam should avoid “scapegoating” highly-skilled migrants for the national housing crisis and instead focus on including them in the democratic debate, according to local politicians.

The D66 liberal democratic party is concerned social issues like a lack of housing and an increase in small households are being unfairly blamed on immigrants.

Erik Schmit, D66 local councillor and a business lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Europe in Amsterdam, said challenges to affordable housing and social cohesion should not be placed squarely at the feet of knowledge migrants – who represent about 7% of Amsterdam’s population.

However, a policy proposal from the PvdA labour party, to be debated this week, suggests local businesses employing knowledge migrants should create more housing and offer them courses in integration.

“First of all, I think we should also acknowledge the contribution internationals are making to the city,” said Schmit, who is critical of the proposal. D66 is part of the city’s ruling coalition.

“And I think we should be careful about scapegoating the international community in the city of Amsterdam for the developments which are happening,” he told Dutch News. “That social cohesion is under pressure is not solely due to the expats. Housing prices are rising: it is not proven that this is solely due to the international community.”

Firms to pay

While the far-right PVV last week collapsed the government on the pretext of asylum policy, recent local headlines in Amsterdam have cited an “immigration wave” of expats as responsible for a perceived breakdown in social cohesion.

The PvdA plan aims to encourage highly-skilled immigrants to “make Amsterdam your home” with courses in Dutch language and history, plus introductions to Dutch customs and local people, paid for by employers.

“We understand why companies find Amsterdam attractive,” said head of the local PvdA Lian Heinhuis in a press statement, in English. “It’s a beautiful city, and on top of that, they pay very little tax in the Netherlands. But in return, we can also expect them to give something back. For example, by investing in the liveability of the city and the wellbeing of both their employees and their neighbours.”

But while some experts welcome measures to root transient populations and make businesses pay, others have pointed out that there is little evidence to blame knowledge migrants for the Netherlands’ growth in single-person households, insufficient house building, and an apparent drop in consideration for other city-dwellers.

Sociable Brits 

Lisa Putman, a researcher from the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) told Dutch News that social cohesion is fairly resilient, although under pressure, but people’s behaviour has more to do with their education level than their country of origin.

“Many people in our country feel society is becoming harsher, social norms are deteriorating, and that increasing diversity is putting pressure on social cohesion,” she said.

“Behind the average picture for the Netherlands as a whole, there are significant differences between groups of people. These differences are mainly related to the type of education people have received. Education is a more decisive factor than age or migration background.”

The subject of volunteering is also contested. While the PvdA proposes linking internationals with volunteering organisations, there is evidence that internationals already make up most of the volunteer group in organisations such as Serve the City and recently revived a local football club, Devo-58 in Amsterdam West.

Schmit, whose husband comes from India, is not short of anecdotes about internationals who contribute to the wider community. “If I take a look at my friends, honestly, they are the first ones to do a voluntary job,” he said.

“My American friend called me and said: let’s do an evening cooking for homeless people. If somebody in the street is ill, [my husband] is the first one to bring some food. I think, instead of scapegoating, we should also acknowledge the contribution the internationals are making to the city of Amsterdam.”

“Bubble” blown

In 2023, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema told local television AT5 that expats should “not sit in your bubble”. But research suggests Dutch-origin people actually live the most segregated lives: the CBS reports that the populations least likely to live in their own bubble are Germans, Brits and Indonesians.

Other research by SEO found that a tax break for around 110,000 highly-skilled migrants nationally has a “very modest” effect on house price rises in Amsterdam – this perk raised rental prices by 0.9% and sale prices by 1.8% in 2022, when the total price inflation was around 11%.

“Mostly expats are renting in the high rental income category,” said Schmit. “Definitely, we have a shortage of houses and the make-up of families is changing. Before, we were living with four people in an apartment and now we’re living with [one or] two…Building houses is a number one priority.”

Gentrification

Some academics, however, say the proposal on migrants was “well-intended”. Dr Jeroen Doomernik, who studies migration and its consequences at the University of Amsterdam, said gentrification and house price rises have had a significant impact on the city. “But I also have foreign colleagues who find it hugely difficult to find living space, even with the 30% expat ruling,” he said.

“You do see a gentrification process, families with children moving out…and people coming in their place who can pay a million. There are just too few houses, and mortgage interest tax relief, which is relatively unique in the Netherlands, has huge effects on scarce housing.”

If Amsterdam wants to be prosperous in future – especially if it does not want to retire at 70 like Denmark – Schmit believes it needs to focus on high-value industries such as artificial intelligence and health tech. Meanwhile, he said, local democracy should be more accessible to Amsterdammers, including internationals.

“As a government, we have other priorities,” he said. “What I see is that internationals are doing voluntary work. What I see is that internationals contribute to the society. What I see is that international companies are training their people. So the question is: what problem do we want to solve?”

EU citizens and non-EU citizens who have lived for five years in the Netherlands can vote in local elections on March 18, 2026