As of July 1, 2025, tenants staying in mid-range rental properties in Amsterdam will be required to have a housing permit. The Dutch capital is introducing this new system to ensure a person’s income level fits the cost of the home they’re living in.
To make more mid-range rental homes available and keep them affordable for residents with middle incomes, the city of Amsterdam announced plans to introduce a permit scheme starting July 1 this year. New tenants of properties with 144 to 186 property valuation points or a monthly rent of up to 1.184,82 euros must apply for a housing permit with the municipality from next month.
An income limit will apply to receive the permit: applicants must earn no more than 81.633 euros gross per year for a single-person household or 89.821 euros for a multi-person household.
“With this permit, we ensure that mid-priced homes end up with the people they are intended for: households with a middle income,” said city alderman Zita Pels (GroenLinks) in a press release. “That is good news for the city, because it is very difficult for these households to find good and affordable housing, while they are essential to our city.”
Essentially, the new rules would ensure that people with higher incomes who can afford rental housing in the free sector are not living in more affordable homes, while those who earn less and need them battle to find accommodation they can afford.
Tenants will need to apply for the housing permit themselves via the municipality and it will most likely be granted within two weeks, but could take as long as eight weeks. The applicant can only move into the rental property once they have received the approved permit.
People moving to rental homes owned by a housing corporation will not need to apply themselves, as the housing corporation will be expected to complete the process.
The responsibility will mainly fall on landlords and housing associations as they should make sure that they rent a property to someone with a permit and inform possible tenants about the property’s point value.
Fines can be issued if the rules are not followed, but the municipality will allow an adjustment period for landlords and corporations to get used to the new rules, being more “flexible” with checks and fines in the first few months after implementation.
In a motion, housing spokesperson Suleyman Aslami (D66) emphasised the need for the construction of more mid-level housing. “Through these regulations, we can ensure that the very few mid-level apartments go to the right people,” said Aslami. “But the real solution would be more affordable houses in Amsterdam.”
As the Dutch housing shortage continues and the cost of housing gets more expensive, the Netherlands is in dire need of more affordable housing. With the government’s goals to build 100.000 homes not set to be met until 2027, this does not appear to be happening any time soon.
The government has also submitted several proposals to try to increase housing availability, from relaxing rules on living in holiday homes to paying municipalities to build affordable housing.
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