After surveying rental teams in student cities in the Netherlands, NRC has reported that the Affordable Rent Act, which is meant to regulate rent prices, is the reason that many owners of student houses are selling their properties and leaving students without a home. 

More cases of Dutch landlords emptying out student housing

In Dutch cities where the majority of students are located, namely Amsterdam, Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen, Leiden, Nijmegen, Rotterdam and Utrecht, rental teams have seen a large number of reports where landlords ask students to leave their rental homes or don’t allow them to get new roommates. 

An incident like this was reported in Amsterdam after one housemate in a student home chose to move out. This led to an ultimatum from the landlord, ordering that the remaining tenants would not be allowed to get a new housemate, and would either have to pay the monthly rent of 2.500 euros between themselves or they would have to move out within a month.

“There is even a landlord with dozens of properties in Amsterdam who sent all his tenants the same letter, stating that he wants them to leave,” Gert Jan Bakker of Amsterdam rental team !WOON told NRC.

Rental teams, which are points of contact in municipalities that help with landlord issues, have reported that landlords don’t always give a reason for this, but many blame the Affordable Rent Act. This pattern is similar to what has been occurring with other rental homes, where more rental properties are being sold by landlords.

More student housing landlords are also choosing to put their homes on the market because of the new legislation that came into effect on July 1, 2024. 

Affordable Rent Act seen as limitation on rental income

With the Affordable Rent Act came many new regulations that affect owners of student housing. For example, the points system limits how much rent landlords can charge based on various factors such as the size of the property and the number of residents. This reduces the rental income, leaving many landlords with a desire to sell.

The shortage of student housing in the Netherlands is not helped by more landlords selling properties into the owner-occupied market. There are currently 23.100 too few student rooms and apartments available for people studying in the Netherlands and with more disappearing, it is likely to become a bigger problem. Even with all the plans to build 16.800 student homes by 2033, the 2031 / 32 academic year could see a deficit of 42.000 student homes.

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