The Netherlands has 22,000 fewer private rental homes, CBS says
The Netherlands had 22,000 fewer private rental homes at the start of 2026 than a year earlier, CBS says. Individual landlords own 37,000 fewer.
The number of private rental homes in the Netherlands fell by about 22,000 during 2025, leaving 1.16 million at the start of 2026, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on 3 November. A year earlier the decline was 3,000.
The 22,000 is the net change in the number of private rental homes. It is not the number of homes sold, and it does not mean homes disappeared.
Individual landlords saw the biggest drop
Individual landlords owned about 37,000 fewer rental homes, a fall of 7%, leaving 492,000. Companies owned about 14,000 fewer. Other organisations, such as foundations and associations, owned about 29,000 more. CBS says that rise comes mainly from owners changing legal form, for example from a company to a foundation.
Where the homes went
CBS says the fall among individual landlords comes mainly from homes moving to owner-occupiers. Over 2024 and 2025 together, a net 57,000 of their rental homes moved that way.
In 2025 the number of owner-occupied homes rose by 81,000, and housing corporations had 14,000 more homes.
Homes that moved from individual landlords to owner-occupiers had an average official property value (WOZ) of €375,000. Across all homes rented out by individual landlords, the average was €327,000.
Differences across the country
Over those 2 years, the share of individual landlords’ homes moving to owner-occupiers was highest in the provinces of Utrecht and Noord-Holland, at 14% and 13%. It was lowest in Limburg and Zeeland, at 6% and 7%. Among the 4 largest cities it was highest in Utrecht, at 15%, and lowest in Rotterdam, at 11%.
Fewer homes from converted offices and shops
Fewer new private rental homes are also coming from converted buildings. In a separate release, CBS says conversions produced 3,700 private rental homes in 2025, down from 5,700 in 2024. It says this may be linked to the Affordable Rent Act, in force since July 2024, which makes private letting less financially attractive for landlords.
The research was commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior. The main release does not put the wider fall in rental homes down to a single cause.
