Today’s Housing Challenges in the Netherlands

The Situation

As in most European countries, the Netherlands faces new, post-covid challenges to accommodate newly arriving internationals and for corporations to anticipate an suitable mobility policy. Finding a permanent rental property has become difficult. The internationals need to be fast, make quick decisions and have the right connections and luck to be selected as the new tenant. The current rental housing market in The Netherlands is tight and extremely fast-moving. This is characterized by higher rental prices for long-term/permanent stays.

On top of that, more internationals welcomed pets in their family during Covid and will bring them along. Not all homeowners are a big fan of tenants with pets. Lastly, the shortage of places available in the schools impacts the limited choice in location of the permanent home and availability.

?As a result, internationals tend to need more time to find their permanent home, and therefore, short-term accommodation has seen an increase in overall demand accompanied by lengthier occupancy rates and higher fees. While this trend is stabilizing in some cities, prices for temporary accommodation in the larger cities remain very competitive. Within the Randstad region, our housing partners echo the aforementioned challenges.

Have Customers' Needs Changed?

With regard to temporary accommodation, more families (and pets) are arriving than ever before and school search programs are on the rise. Our short-stay housing partners see a shift in the demand as well as in company policies. Larger apartments are more frequently requested; where a single expat would usually have stayed in a studio apartment, 1-bedroom apartments are now preferred—this allows the international the option of working from home. With the post-pandemic changes in work culture, having strong Wi-Fi and a place to work with a desk are critical. Increasingly, companies also chose to book a serviced apartment with a fully equipped kitchen instead of a hotel. All of these features can contribute to a softer landing for the internationals as they settle in.

Longer Stays

Additionally, providers of short-stay housing, confirm an increase in the number of occupancy extensions that are requested as a direct result of the tight permanent housing market. In general, people stay longer in their temporary accommodation as the process of finding a permanent home can take longer. Correspondingly, partners see that corporate international assignment policies are under review to extend their standard maximum number of weeks in short-term stay housing.

The Fix?

Long Term Lease for Flexible Use

Given the reduced availability of properties, companies demonstrate an increased need to rent serviced apartments for a set duration e.g.?1 year. This allows international hires to move in and out more freely, after their first few weeks in the Netherlands and offers companies the certainty of having accommodation for new international hires when needed, as well as flexibility around duration of stay. This concept is only allowed in short-stay housing to avoid permanent housing being withdrawn from the housing market and further exacerbating supply.

What Are We Doing at Expat Management Group?

At Expat Management Group we continue to enhance and advance our services to ensure the information and support we offer is up-to-date and makes a difference. We are working closer than ever with our corporate housing partners to find the best solutions to the challenges posed by the current housing market. Our strong partnerships and close working relationships with our network of housing providers means that we are in the best possible position to assist our clients. Looking to Q3 and Q4 of 2023 and beyond, we see similar challenges arising. However, given the turbulence of the last few years and the after effects we continue to experience, we understand that the only certainty we have is that change happens and as a company we have learned to embrace that.?

By Expat Management Group