The annual survey by real estate advisor Capital Value and ABF Research showed that the housing shortage in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area has risen to 50,000. That is considerably higher than expected.
This trend will continue due to the decline of many building permits in 2019 in combination with strong population growth. As a result, the researchers expect the national deficit to persist or not to rise.
The report described that the affordability of housing in Amsterdam is ‘under enormous pressure’ as a result. The municipality is fully engaged in finding solutions to this. For example, a letter of intent was signed in February with real estate parties and investors to realize 10,000 rental homes in Amsterdam for middle-income households. This should ensure that the housing must be affordable for teachers and care providers, among others.
It has also been agreed to annually build 15,000 homes within the metropolis, 5,000 of which are in the social rental segment. The average waiting list time for a social rental home in Amsterdam is currently about 9 years and these measures should shorten the waiting list.
The number of elderly people in the Netherlands is increasing and this group is the victim of the housing shortage because too few homes have been built in recent years. In the next ten years, some 35,400 households in this age category will be added. The number of young households (up to the age of 29) is also increasing and this will be a shortage of 9800 homes throughout the Netherlands in the next five years. A large part comes from Amsterdam, while it is almost impossible to find a suitable home at the moment.
The researchers believe it is important to be able to solve the problem not only with the municipality, but also with investors, because they would have around 26 billion euros available to invest and thus realize around 100,000 homes. In addition, foreign pension funds would also be interested in investing. With this they want to realize social rental homes and homes in the middle segment.
‘It is therefore possible to reduce the large shortages, together with the housing associations, enormously. With one condition: That there is more supply of building plans and locations’, according to Capital Value and ABF Research.