Annual government research into discrimination in the rental housing sector has found that over half of estate agents are willing not to let property to foreigners if asked to do so by landlords, and that the number willing to actively discriminate has risen over the past year.

Researchers from the Verwey-Jonker Institute, which carried out the research on behalf of the housing ministry, posed as landlords and made 200 requests to rental agents asking them not to rent their property to Moroccans, Turks or Poles.

Half of the agents told the researchers that this would not be legal but agreed to go ahead with the request. In the previous survey, just 37% agreed not to rent to foreigners. In 22% of cases, agents refused to cooperate, and a similar proportion pointed out that it would be illegal to discriminate but that it would be up to the landlord themselves.

“This is a difficult area for landlords because of the economic argument,” lead researcher Marcel Coenders told Dutch News. “They may be willing [to discriminate] because they want to get the client on board.” The amount of rental housing that falls outside the rent-controlled sector in the Netherlands is shrinking, and competition for properties is fierce.

At the same time, several landlords told the researchers that they should welcome “expat tenants” because they had high salaries and would leave after a few years, Coenders said.

Members of one of the various professional organisations for letting agents and estate agents were less likely to agree to discriminate, but nevertheless, 42% were still willing to do so. Just under 30% refused to cooperate.

The NVM estate agents organisation told Dutch News that it condemns discrimination in the housing market and has been working hard to counteract it.

“Efforts to tackle housing discrimination would get a major boost if a legal quality standard for real estate agents were introduced,” the organisation said. “This would make it possible to ban agents who deliberately discriminate from continuing to operate in the market. After all, members expelled from NVM can currently still continue their practices independently.”

The researchers also followed up on adverts posted on the Pararius housing website, posing as singletons, part of a couple, or part of a gay couple to find out if people with Turkish, Moroccan or Polish names faced discrimination.

In total, the researchers responded 3,800 times to rental housing adverts. For the first time, the researchers found little difference in the reactions from agencies and landlords between the different types of potential tenants, and those differences that did exist were “statistically insignificant.”

Have you faced discrimination when trying to rent property in the Netherlands? Feel free to share your experiences via editor@dutchnews.nl.