The shortage of housing is so acute in Amsterdam that the city council, estate agents and housing corporations are encouraging home hunters to look further afield, the Financieele Dagblad said on Thursday.

A new report on the housing market in the Dutch capital is currently recommending people look to Diemen, Abcoude, Purmerend and Zaanstad, where there are decent homes on offer at reasonable prices, the paper says.

‘If you are prepared to spend 15 minutes in the train, then you will get twice as much house for your money,’ Sven Heinen, chairman of Amsterdam real estate association MVA, told the paper.

In Purmerend and Zaanstad, for example, a home costs between € 2000 en € 2500 per square metre, compared with over €3000 per square metre in Amsterdam, according to third-quarter prices from Calcasa.

Commuting

The Dutch are difficult about commuting times, Heinen points out. ‘We panic if we have to travel for an hour. But in London, it is completely normal to travel an hour to work by metro.’

‘Consumers, developers and investors are all focused on Amsterdam,’ said council development chief Pierre van Rossum. Next year, Amsterdam is setting up a special project bureau to stimulate development in the wider region, the FD said.

There are affordable homes in Noord, Zuidoost and Nieuw-West, Van Rossum said. For example, in Noord, home of 100 square metres can be found for around €200,000. Nevertheless, prices in the borough have gone up nearly 15% so far this year, the FD points out.