Thanks to an unprecedented level of new construction, there may be an end in sight for the housing shortage in Amsterdam.
In 2015, the construction began of a total of 8.376 new homes in the Dutch capital. More than half of these will be rental apartments with a monthly rent of less than 710 euros.
The rest will be a mix of apartments for purchase and free sector rental apartments. Out of these, 1.368 apartments for rent will cost between 710 and 970 euros per month.
Laurens Ivens, housing official for the city of Amsterdam, is very happy with this development in the Amsterdam housing market.
Ivens states that, in previous years, the construction of new homes could not keep up with the population growth in Amsterdam.
The city has been unable to meet the demand for rental apartments and apartments for sale, but according to Ivens, 2015 marks a turning point.
In addition to the 8.376 new homes being built, the construction of another 881 "temporary" apartments also began in 2015. These are intended for habitation for a period of, typically, 15 years.
The construction boom in Amsterdam can be traced back to the Actieplan woningbouw 2014-2018 (Action Plan for Housing Construction) presented by Ivens and the Amsterdam housing committee in 2014. This comprehensive plan called for the construction of 5.000 new homes per year by 2018.
In order to achieve this goal and to speed up the process, government officials at the time called for the removal of bureaucratic hurdles, simplifying regulations and improving cooperation with developers and contractors.
The city of Amsterdam invested 60 million euros to facilitate the implementation of the long-term housing plan.
Amsterdam Nieuw-West is getting many new homes. On the Jacques Veltmanstraat more than 400 apartments are being built for students and young people.
A vacant office building on the Rijswijkstraat is being converted to living quarters, and 498 new apartments will be constructed at the August Allebéplein.
One of the projects that broke ground in late 2015 is the "Little Manhattan" development located next to Station Lelylaan in Amsterdam with 869 student apartments, pictured in the artist rendering above.
This is good news for students at a time when an increasing number of Dutch students choose to live with their parents instead of moving to student housing in the city of their university.
The shortage of affordable and available student housing of course remains for the current academic year, but the overhaul of the student financing system in the Netherland has likely been a determining factor as well.
Instead of grants, student financing in the Netherlands now consists of a 35-year-long student loan. The change was implemented at the end of the 2015 summer vacation.
The Dutch Central Bureau for Statics (CBS) reports that, between July and October 2015, 48.000 17 to 22-year-olds moved to a different municipality. That is a 15 percent drop compared to the same period in 2014.
For 18-year-olds the decrease was the highest, with 25 percent fewer students of that age relocating. The number of newly enrolled students remained the same compared to 2014.
The lower number of student relocations stands out, because in all other age groups more Dutch citizens moved to a new city compared to 2014, likely due to the economy recovery.
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