First-time renters and buyers still making an impact in Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam (UvA) has just published a study examining the status of people entering the property market in Amsterdam.

An attractive expense

One of the study's notable findings was that the number of first-time home buyers is increasing in Amsterdam.

The high quantity of young renters and buyers who are still attracted to the Dutch capital is somewhat surprising, given our hard economic times and recent unfavourable housing developments.

Interestingly, compared to previous generations, people living in Amsterdam are currently spending a significantly higher proportion of their income on rent.

However, the researchers suggest that (young) people's desire to live in the Dutch capital simply overshadows the relatively high cost of property and living expenses.

Inequalities

Another interesting discovery made by the researchers concerns the socio-economic make-up of renters and buyers. They found that a significant number of people entering the property market here were able to move into expensive neighbourhoods, in spite of their low incomes.

This can be easily mapped onto the city, with gentrified neighbourhoods such as the Jordaan and De Pijp filled with a high concentration of first-time renters and buyers (who often don't earn the highest salaries).

But these individuals are mostly students or young people whose families, crucially, are willing to subsidise them.

By contrast, those who don't have wealthy parents to help them with rental costs are more likely to be found in (cheaper) housing outside of the city's ring road. 

Consequently, the study concludes that wealthy first-time renters and buyers are pushing their less well-off counterparts out of the city.