The share of social rent housing has fallen from 37 percent to 34 percent in recent years. Meanwhile, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the share of rented housing in the free sector has increased from 4 to 8 percent.

Between 2012 and 2021, 600,000 living spaces were added in the Netherlands, but no social rental properties. Private landlords in particular rent out many homes in the private sector. In the same period, the number of social rental homes decreased slightly among housing associations.

The share of medium-term rental homes has increased, that is, homes with a maximum base rent of €1,000. They now make up 5 percent of all living spaces.

Amsterdam takes the cake: The number of private sector homes there has doubled to 22 percent, while there are fewer regulated homes. This trend can also be seen in Utrecht, The Hague and Rotterdam. The exception of Eindhoven: there is an increase in the number of houses in the social sector and a decrease in the number of medium-term rental houses.

The share of social rental housing in the Netherlands varies greatly from one municipality to another. For example, in Alvin Cham and Igsden Margraten Wafer it is 15 percent, while in Vlardingen and Heerlen it is more than 45 percent.

In the majority of municipalities, the share of rented social housing was less than 28 percent at the time of the CBS measurement. This means that it is still below the target percentage set by Minister de Jong (Public Housing), who wants municipalities to have at least 30 percent of social rented housing by 2030.