Small landlords are selling more of their homes, particularly in the biggest Dutch cities, but overall the number of rental properties in the Netherlands is stable, according to new figures from the Kadaster land registry.

In the third quarter of this year, small landlords sold 3,550 properties to owner-occupiers, and that is the highest number in 10 years. These were likely to be smaller properties and had an average price of €378,000, well below the national average price buyers are currently paying.

New housing rules introduced in July have expanded rent controls to cover 90% of the market, and landlords say it often makes more financial sense to sell because of the lower rents and higher taxes.

The end of two-year tenancies has also led landlords to sell as soon as rental contract expires because empty properties raise more money.

At the same time, however, large landlords such as pension funds and other investors, expanded their property portfolios through new developments and buying more homes. They now control 5.5% of the housing market, compared with 5.4% last year.

By October 1, private landlords own 3.8% of the Dutch housing stock, down a marginal 0.1% on the same period in 2023.

According to Matthijs Korevaar, a housing market economist at Erasmus University, shifts in housing stock ownership always take place “very slowly”.

Nevertheless, he told the Financieele Dagblad, the land registry figures show a “clear turnaround” and that, on balance, private investors have never sold so many houses to people who are going to live there themselves as they did in the summer months.

In the third quarter, private and institutional landlords sold 12,200 rental properties, more than 4,400 more than in the same period last year. In total, they bought about 4,600 homes in the period, 800 more than in the third quarter of 2023.