German property investment group Patrizia has bought a portfolio of 1,275 Dutch rental properties for €152.5m from private landlord Holland Immo Group.

The deal is the biggest in the Dutch rental market for 1.5 years and involves property in Amsterdam, Zwolle, Dordrecht and Den Bosch.

Research by property information service Capital Value earlier this year showed foreign and Dutch investors have some €5.5bn available to invest in the Dutch rental property market.

The research also showed the demand for rental homes in the Netherlands far outstrips supply and the trend is worsening. In particular, there is a major shortage of homes costing between €710 and €1,000 a month – just over the limit for the rent-controlled housing sector.

In July 2014, Patrizia bought 5,500 homes from housing corporation Vestia for €577m. Patrizia Netherlands now has around €1.1bn of assets under management, the company said in a statement.