Many rental houses in the Netherlands are not inhabited: how is that possible? | NOW
There are many rental properties in the Netherlands that are not inhabited. The obvious question is whether they can be used in the fight against housing shortage.
Statistics office CBS keeps track of how many homes are uninhabited in the Netherlands. “Not intended” means no one is registered at address. Over the past ten years, the number of uninhabited rental homes has increased by 13,046 to 212,044.
This is striking, because in the same period the demand for rental houses increased sharply. That is why prices have risen so much. For the entire housing stock, the percentage of unoccupied housing did fall: from 5.57 percent in 2012 to 4.40 percent in 2021. It is mainly rented houses owned by private owners (investors) that more often remain uninhabited.
Pure political use and nationally regulated up to empty houses in the fight against housing shortage. Amsterdam done with fines homeowners to rent out their living space. Lilianne Ploumen on empty homes.
‘Uninhabited houses’ are not just available
Unfortunately, that is not so easy. “Not officially used” means something different than vacancy, says Jasper de Groot, director of rental platform Pararius: “The fact that no one is registered does not mean that a house is available. It is that a house or even is still being built. In that case it is not used, but you cannot speak of vacancy.”
Statistics Netherlands makes a distinction between housing association homes and private homes. The expansion is especially visible in private rental homes. In percentage terms, private rental homes are also more often unoccupied (12.20 percent in 2021) than housing association homes (3.36 percent in 2021).
According to housing market analyst Jasper du Pont, there are several reasons for the difference. “With private rent, there are more changes; it is often an interim solution due to high prices of temporary contracts. Also, with a private landlord, the speed of renting is not necessarily ahead.”
Umbrella organization of housing associations Aedes says that housing associations aim for as little vacancy as possible. “A property simply has to get a new one as soon as possible. That is better for the tenant who is looking for a home, but in the end it also saves money. Not vacancy.” Another possible explanation is plans for renovations.
‘Major maintenance or improvement is more common in the rental sector’
De Groot believes that a healthy housing market includes some degree of ‘non-occupancy’ or vacancy. “2 percent vacancy is healthy,” he says. “This vacancy occurs during relocations or renovations. In the rental sector, it takes a while before a home is sold. Especially when maintenance is carried out and a rental home is improved.”
Housing market researcher Maartje Martens looks at it a little differently. “More vacancy is normal in a rental market where prices are high and many residents have a temporary contract. After all, they move more often.”
“In addition, it may have been to buy a house and later sell it at a higher price. Sometimes after some modest modernization,” says Martens. “In the eyes of such a speculator, a tenant is in the way. And renovations take time because there are few professionals to be found. The effect of speculators may disappear into the background now that the housing market is tilting.”