Affordable rental homes disappearing from the market

 

Number of private sector rental homes released

In the fourth quarter of 2025, 14,698 private sector rental homes were published/listed. During the same period, 15,188 homes were withdrawn. Consequently, more rental properties disappeared than were added on balance. As a result, the available supply in the private sector declined further—bad news for prospective tenants. What becomes available is often too expensive and quickly off the market again. The market is effectively locking up more and more.

 

Supply by price segment

The private sector rental supply has not only shrunk in recent years but also changed significantly in composition. The number of rental homes priced below €1,500 per month has decreased sharply since 2021 and is currently structurally lower than in the years before 2024. At the same time, supply in the higher price categories increased. On balance, the composition of the total rental supply has changed compared to a few years ago:

 

Private sector rental homes are therefore still disappearing from the market at a rapid pace: in the fourth quarter of 2025, a property remained online for an average of 18 days. That is one day shorter than in the same quarter a year earlier. The time that rental homes were offered online has decreased sharply in recent years and has remained low since the fourth quarter of 2021. Although there are occasional small outliers, homes remain available on average for only a short time.

 

That picture did not change in 2025 either. The outliers show the turbulence that arose before and after the introduction of the Affordable Rent Act (*Wet betaalbare huur*) in July 2024. During that period, the composition of the housing stock changed because primarily smaller homes, which are lower-priced and rented out more quickly, were sold off. The larger and more expensive homes remained and stayed online longer.

 

Average rent vs. required gross income

The average rent for a private sector rental home was €1,838 per month in the fourth quarter of 2025. This puts the average rent 6.5 percent higher than a year earlier. Landlords in the private sector generally use the guideline that a tenant must earn at least three times the monthly rent. For an average private sector rental home, this means a required gross monthly income of approximately €5,515.

 

This income level makes a large part of the private sector difficult to access for many prospective tenants. Tenants with a median income often do not meet this income requirement on their own. [1] Increasingly, homes have a rent above €2,000 per month, while most prospective tenants are specifically looking in the lower end of the private sector. As a result, demand focuses on a relatively small part of the supply, creating extra competition in the lower price categories.

 

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