The cost of renting a home in the Netherlands continues to rise and fewer homes are available for people not entitled to social housing, according to new figures from housing platform Pararius.

Over the past year the number of apartments available for rent has gone down by almost one third, while more and more people are reacting to each advert, the Pararius figures show.

In Amsterdam rents have risen over 8% for new tenancies, to an average of €27.32 per square metre across the capital. In the Hague prices are up 7.2% and in Rotterdam 9.3%, with an average price now of around €19 per square metre. In Utrecht prices are virtually unchanged but in Eindhoven, new tenants are paying 5.4% more.

The big five cities accounted for 42% of Pararius’s selection of rental properties in the third quarter of this year, down from 53% in 2021 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our research shows that landlords are deciding not to rent out property that becomes vacant, but to sell it,” said Pararius director Jasper de Groot.

“The amount of rental property available is shrinking because government measures are making it increasingly unattractive to be a landlord. And that means the amount of non-rent controlled property, which was already limited, is getting smaller.”

The non-rent controlled sector accounts for just 8% of the Dutch rental housing stock.

The government plans to expand the rent-controlled sector to cover more homes and to increase the taxes that landlords have to pay. Small landlords in particular say it will no longer be economically viable to own rental property and are selling it off.

The draft legislation has not yet been debated by MPs or the senate and it will be up to the next government whether or not to proceed with it.

“It would be better to come up with a long term vision for the housing market, and stop thinking in short-term solutions,” De Groot said. “The government measures are short term fixes for the show, but the real problem – the lack of supply – is being made worse.”