The Netherlands faces a surplus of family homes: ABN Amro

There are twice as many family homes in the Netherlands as families, and this imbalance will only worsen in the coming years, according to a new report by ABN Amro analysts.

There are currently plans to build 270,000 more family units, but between now and 2050, 900,000 homes will come on the market as the baby boom generation dies out, the analysts say.

Seven in 10 of the Netherlands’ 65 to 74-year-olds live in what is considered to be a family home – either a detached, semi-detached or terraced house designed for parents and children to live in.

There are some 5.2 million such properties in the Netherlands – accounting for around two-thirds of residential property. But only one-third of Dutch households are a family unit with children living at home, compared with six in 10 in 1970.

ABN Amro analyst Jorke Kooijenga told broadcaster NOS that the number of single-person households will increase in the coming years and at the same time, older people are looking to move to something more practical.

Building more homes for older people is key to tackling the current housing crisis, he said.

“Older people don’t want to live in traditional sheltered housing,” he said. “They want something bigger, with a good kitchen, level floors and a room for hobbies. But this is a group that can move and free up a family home for a young family.”

In some areas, however, there is a shortage of larger homes. In Amsterdam, for example, just 16% of the city’s 500,000 houses and apartments are considered to be family homes and much of the recent residential development in the capital has been small apartments for single people and couples.

The Dutch government is also currently working on plans to make it easier to divide up large homes into smaller units.