Private landlords are selling off more of their student properties, worsening the already tight student housing market. More than 5,000 homes — equivalent to around 10,000 student rooms — were sold in the past year, according to research by ABF for the housing ministry and student housing centre Kences.

The number of student homes sold by private landlords is now 50% higher than a year ago and the country risks losing 9% of its student rooms within two years, Kences said.

The Netherlands had around 393,000 student rooms for higher education students in the last academic year. Kences director Jolan de Bie said that while about 5,000 new student rooms are built every year, this is not enough to offset private sales.

Around half of all student rooms are owned by private landlords, who are expected to withdraw about 45,000 rooms from the market over two years because of new rules on property sharing and higher taxes.

The sell-off is most visible in the major university cities, the ABF report found. Amsterdam tops the list with over 2,000 properties sold, followed by Rotterdam (1,025), Utrecht (810) and Groningen (695).