Dutch residents need monthly income over 5.000 euros to afford average rent

Average rental prices in the Netherlands have increased by over 17 percent in the last year, requiring residents to earn more than 5.000 euros per month to afford a rental home. This is the result of an ever-tightening housing market as the supply of rental properties continues to decline.

Increasing competition in Dutch rental market as housing supply drops

Only 12.744 private sector rental homes were available in the second quarter of this year - 36,4 percent fewer than the same period last year. According to Pararius, this drop in the number of rental homes raises the competition and puts more pressure on the rental market.

Part of the drop is from landlords selling their properties, as over 2.100 rentals shifted to the owner-occupied market. There has been a spike in the number of rental homes being sold as new regulations introduced, such as the Affordable Rent Act, make it less profitable to rent out houses and homeowners receive a lot of incentives making it advantageous to buy a home.

From April to June in 2025, the average rental property in the private sector was listed for an average of just 18 days and received an average of 57 applications - up from 41 responses a year ago and the highest number ever recorded. This shows that the rental housing market is heating up.

Higher incomes needed to afford Dutch rental homes 

Properties in the lowest segment of the private sector with monthly rents ranging from 1.185 to 1.500 euros saw the greatest amount of competition in the second quarter of 2025. Over 35 percent of applications were received for homes in this price range, while just 27 percent of all listings were in this category.

The middle segment, with rents of between 1.500 euros and 2.000 euros per month, is also seeing growing competition as homes in the lower price range are becoming harder to find. Homes in this category received 40,9 percent of all applications.

With increasing competition on the rental housing market in the Netherlands, no significant affordable housing construction project or effective legislation to regulate rents it’s not surprising that the average rent rose to 1.830 euros per month (up from 1.558 euros in Q2 of 2024). This means that new renters need to earn a gross monthly income of 5.490 euros as landlords often require you to earn at least three times the monthly rent. 

Smaller and medium-sized Dutch cities are seeing the strongest price increases, but Amsterdam is still the most expensive city for renting, costing 27,91 euros per square metre. Amstelveen (23,38 euros), Bussum (22,65 euros) and Haarlem (21,66 euros) follow closely behind.