Rents in Dutch unregulated housing sector outpace inflation

With fewer homes available, Dutch tenants face growing pressure

Pararius Quarterly Rental Report Q1 2025

In the first quarter of 2025, the number of available rental homes in the Netherlands’ unregulated housing sector dropped by 35.5% compared to the same period last year, according to data from property platform Pararius. Meanwhile, rents rose by 9.6%, with the average monthly rent reaching €1,781. To afford this, tenants would need a gross monthly income of over €5,340. For the first time in years, unregulated sector rents are rising faster than inflation — a clear sign of persistent market tightness. Demand remains high, with listings receiving 47% more responses than a year ago.

Number of available properties

In the first quarter of 2025, just 12.677 rental homes in the unregulated sector were listed across the Netherlands — a 35.5% drop compared to the 19,646 homes made available a year earlier. These figures are based on data from Pararius, Huurwoningen.nl and other public sources.

Meanwhile, 14.340 properties were taken off the market, meaning more rentals disappeared than were added. This ongoing decline in supply fuels competition among renters and continues to push prices upward.

In the first quarter of 2025, rental properties in the unregulated housing sector were listed online for an average of 20 days. That is one day longer than in the previous quarter, when the average was 19 days. Compared to the same period last year, however, homes are now being rented out slightly faster — in Q1 2024, listings remained online for an average of 21 days.

Average number of responses to a rental property

In the first quarter of 2025, rental properties in the unregulated housing sector received an average of 47 responses — a sharp increase from 32 in the same quarter last year, marking a 47% rise in tenant interest.

The greatest imbalance is still observed in the lowest segment of the unregulated rental market, with monthly rents between €1,185 and €1,500. This segment accounted for 44.2 percent of all responses, while it represented only 30.1 percent of the available listings. This part of the unregulated housing sector remains the most affordable option for many households and often serves as the only alternative once mid-range rentals are no longer accessible. Pressure on this segment has been structurally high for some time and shows no sign of easing in the near future.

The mid-range segment (€1,500 to €2,000) is now also beginning to feel the strain. In Q1 2025, it received 37.5% of tenant responses while making up 33.4% of listings. In previous quarters, supply and demand in this bracket were roughly in balance. The shift suggests that renters — increasingly priced out of the lower segment — are being pushed toward more expensive options, driving up competition across the board.

The top end of the market, with rents over €2,000 per month, remains the least competitive: while it made up 36.5% of listings, it attracted just 18.3% of responses. For most house seekers, this segment is still financially out of reach.

Market scarcity

To better illustrate the state of the rental market, Pararius introduced the Rental Market Pressure Index¹ — a metric that reflects the balance between supply and demand in the Dutch rental sector. The index takes into account several key dynamics: the total number of available properties, the volume of newly listed rentals, the average time listings stay online, and the number of responses per property.

In the first quarter of 2025, the index stood at 0.46, indicating that demand continues to significantly exceed supply. In the previous quarter, the index was slightly higher at 0.47, also pointing to a landlord’s market. As a result, rental properties are being let quickly, and upward pressure on prices persists.

Average rental price vs. required income 

In the first quarter of 2025, the average monthly rent for a home in the Dutch unregulated housing sector was €1,780.67. Landlords typically require tenants to earn at least three times the monthly rent. Based on this rule of thumb, people would need a gross monthly income of at least €5,342 to secure a home in the unregulated rental market.

This income threshold is well above the 2025 modal income, which stands at approximately €3,458 per month (excluding holiday pay). As a result, the unregulated housing sector remains unaffordable for a large portion of Dutch households. Rising rents are pricing out many would-be tenants whose incomes simply don’t meet the standard.

Pararius Rental Price Index (PHI)

Since the third quarter of 2024, Pararius has included a Rental Price Index (PRI) in its reports. This index tracks average rent developments in the unregulated housing sector and compares them to both the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Price Index of Existing Owner-Occupied Homes (PIEH). All three indices use the first quarter of 2021 as their baseline (=100). With this comparison, Pararius aims to offer a clear and comprehensive view of rental market trends in the Netherlands.

In the first quarter of 2025, rents in the unregulated sector rose faster than inflation for the first time in years. Until now, rental prices had lagged behind broader price trends, partly due to the removal of smaller, relatively expensive properties from the market. That moderating effect still plays a role, as these types of homes continue to be sold².

However, pressure on the rental market has grown to such an extent that, despite this dampening effect, rent levels are now increasing at a pace that exceeds inflation.

Meanwhile, the owner-occupied market has shown a stronger upward trend for some time. In nearly every quarter since early 2021, house prices have outpaced inflation. Only in Q2 and Q3 of 2023 did that growth temporarily align with inflation. In all other periods, the owner-occupied market consistently outperformed inflation — a sign of ongoing scarcity and sustained upward price pressure in that segment as well.

The figures for the first quarter of 2025 mark a significant turning point: for the first time since Q3 2021, rental prices in the unregulated housing sector are rising faster than inflation. This shift is largely driven by a sharp decline in the number of available rental properties, while demand remains consistently high.

Even the dampening effect of changing supply composition can no longer hold back price increases. Although smaller properties — typically more expensive per square metre — continue to disappear from the market, and larger, more affordable properties remain, the average rent is still rising faster than inflation. The growing pressure on the rental market is now clearly visible.

While the Affordable Rent Act³ was intended to improve affordability and ease pressure on tenants, the reality appears to be the opposite. Jasper de Groot, CEO of Pararius: “The aim of this law was to shift more homes into the regulated segment — in theory. But landlords still have a choice: either rent out their properties at lower, capped prices, or sell if the numbers don’t add up. And in practice, we’re seeing the latter: large numbers of rental homes are being sold instead of re-let.”

At the same time, the development of new rental homes in this segment is stagnating. Rising costs and uncertainty around long-term policy are causing developers and investors to step back from the market⁴.

On top of that, demand continues to outstrip supply, keeping pressure on the unregulated rental market consistently high. While this pressure was previously most visible in the lower price segment, it is now increasingly spreading to higher rent categories as well.

De Groot: “Without additional policies aimed at building, preserving, and ensuring access to rental housing, the unregulated rental sector will continue to shrink — and tenant mobility will grind to a halt.”

Shift from rental to owner-occupied housing market

In the first quarter of 2025, 1,849 rental properties were sold via the Pararius platform — a 70.4% increase compared to the 1,085 sales recorded in the same quarter of 2024.

In contrast, the number of former owner-occupied homes entering the rental market declined once again. In Q1 2025, 367 homes were listed for rent after previously being owner-occupied, compared to 430 in the same period a year earlier — a decrease of 14.7%.

The rental properties being sold this last quarter were, on average, 69 square metres — significantly smaller than the 86 square metres of homes still being rented out.

In the first quarter of 2025, 7.7% of all home sales came from the rental market, up from 5.5% a year earlier. While this percentage now appears to be stabilising, the absolute number of sales continues to rise. This stabilisation masks a structural outflow of rental homes from the unregulated sector, as more and more properties are being sold rather than re-rented.

At the same time, the total number of homes for sale — including those changing hands between private buyers — is also growing. As a result, the share of former rental properties within the broader sales market may appear smaller than it actually is⁵.

Average square metre price per housing type

In the first quarter of 2025, the average rent per square metre increased for both apartments and single-family homes. Compared to a year earlier, new tenants paid 10.2% more for apartments and 12.0% more for single-family homes. The average monthly rent was €20.77 per square metre for an apartment and €15.84 for a single-family home.

Across all property types, the national average rent in the unregulated sector rose to €19.64 per square metre per month, up 9.6% compared to Q1 2024.

Delivery forms in the Netherlands

Pararius distinguishes three types of rental properties: furnished⁶, upholstered⁷ and shell⁸. In the first quarter of 2025, unfurnished rental properties accounted for 31.7 percent of the properties listed. A new tenant paid an average of €18.50 per square metre per month for an unfurnished property. Partially furnished properties made up 33.3 percent of the listed properties. New tenants paid an average of €22.10 per square metre for these properties. The share of furnished properties was 35 percent. For this category, the average square metre price was €23.74 per month.

Rental price development in Dutch cities 

Pararius also reports on rental price trends at the local level. The data covers cities and towns where at least 30 unregulated rental properties were taken off the market in a given quarter. In the first quarter of 2025, more than 80% of these locations saw an increase in the average rent per square metre compared to a year earlier — a sign that the national trend of rising rents continues in most municipalities.

Among the five largest cities in the Netherlands (the G5), prices rose once again — including in Amsterdam, where average prices had previously declined. In the capital, new tenants paid €27.03 per square metre, up 1.2% from the previous year. While modest, this marks a shift after several quarters of falling prices caused by the rental of larger homes and the exit of smaller, more expensive units from the market.

In Rotterdam, the increase was strongest at 8%, with average rents reaching €20.84 per square metre. Price rises were also seen in The Hague (€20.58, +6.4%), Utrecht (€21.16, +4.0%), and Eindhoven (€18.09, +4.5%). Despite the ongoing trend of smaller units leaving the market, rents rose across all five major cities.

The sharpest rent increases were observed in smaller cities, often outside the Randstad. In Roermond, prices jumped by 28.2% to €14.72 per square metre. Other notable increases occurred in Rijswijk (+19.5%, €18.33), Dordrecht (+19.4%, €17.14), Hoorn (+18.4%, €19.26), and Wassenaar (+17.4%, €21.24). These cities show that rent hikes are no longer confined to the Randstad, as the search for affordable housing spreads to surrounding regions.

A few cities did see prices fall. The largest drop was in Zwolle, where rents fell by 15.7% to €12.66 per square metre. This decline is largely due to a shift in the types of properties being rented: compared to a year ago, relatively larger homes — which tend to be cheaper per square metre — were more frequently let in Zwolle. Other cities where rent growth lagged behind the national trend included Zoetermeer (–2.8%, €15.04), Deventer (–2.1%, €15.48), and Zaandam (–1.1%, €19.07).

Dutch Provinces

In the first quarter of 2025, average rental prices per square metre increased across all provinces compared to the same period last year. The sharpest rise was seen in Friesland, where rents climbed 14.9% to €14.22 per square metre. Other notable increases occurred in Drenthe (+11.9%, €13.71), Limburg (+9.5%, €14.96), Gelderland (+9.0%, €15.20), and Flevoland (+8.5%, €17.39). Despite these increases, rents in these provinces remain below the national average.

In North Holland, prices rose by just 2.4%, reaching €23.60 per square metre — still the highest in the country. The modest increase is likely due to a shift in the type of properties being rented, with relatively more large homes entering the market, which tend to have lower price-per-metre ratios.

South Holland and Utrecht saw rents rise by 6.8% and 7.6%, to €19.58 and €19.26 per square metre respectively.

The smallest increase was recorded in Overijssel, where rents rose by just 0.6% year-on-year, averaging €13.63 per square metre per month.

About Pararius

Pararius is the largest independent property portal in the Netherlands. Through the online platform, only professional estate agents, including NVM, Vastgoed Nederland, housing corporations, managers, investors, and developers, can present their available housing supply. This supply is listed by more than 4,500 rental and sales specialists on Pararius, ensuring high quality and representativeness of the rental stock in the Dutch unregulated housing sector, also known as the unregulated sector in the Netherlands. The website welcomes more than 2.5 million visitors monthly. These visitors have unlimited access to over 60,000 properties. Pararius is available in six languages and is the largest expat rental portal in the Netherlands for over 350,000 international knowledge workers employed in the country.

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