The Hague and Utrecht plan to stop private investors buying up property to rent out at high prices, when new legislation comes into effect in January, website Nu.nl said on Wednesday.

Amsterdam has already said it plans to stop landlords buying property costing less than €512,000 and turning it into rental accommodation, in an effort to boost the chances of first-time buyers.

Instead, buyers will have to commit to living in the property for at least four years, but will be able to rent it out to close family or while abroad for a period.

Now The Hague and Utrecht have said they too will take advantage of the new law. Rotterdam will decide next week what to do, Nu.nl said.

The land registry office Kadaster said at the end of last month that private investors own almost 18% of the housing in the big cities.

Both Utrecht and The Hague plan to introduce the measure city wide but have not yet decided on the price limit.

Utrecht, Rotterdam and Amsterdam have already banned people from buying newly built properties with the aim of renting them out.