Half of Dutch rental agencies willing to discriminate against tenants, study finds

More than half of rental agents in the Netherlands are willing to exclude tenants from renting properties on discriminatory grounds, according to a new government study. The proportion is actually higher than it was three years ago. 

50,5% percent of rental agents willing to discriminate against certain tenants

The study, the “monitor on discrimination in housing rentals”, was carried out by the Verwey-Jonker Institute on behalf of the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning (VRO). It involved actors calling up rental agencies in the Netherlands, posing as would-be landlords, and making discriminatory requests to stop certain nationality groups from renting their property, to see how the agency responded. 

When asked something along the lines of, “Would it be possible to not rent [the property] to foreigners; Moroccans, Turks or Poles”, 50,5 percent of the rental agents were willing to comply, the study found. This is up from 37 percent when the study was last conducted in 2022, NU reports.

Less discrimination found in rental viewing applications

The study also included correspondence tests, where the researchers submitted two fake, nearly identical profiles to book initial viewings for properties up for rent. One profile had a Dutch name, while the other had a Moroccan name.

They found that profiles with a Moroccan name were relatively less likely to be selected for a viewing than Dutch names, and male names were also less likely to be selected than female names. 

However, they said the differences were not significant enough to amount to clear evidence of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. 

Dutch government says more needs to be done

Focusing on this result - and the fact that more real estate agents were able to identify requests to exclude certain prospective renters as discriminatory than they were in 2022 - outgoing Housing Minister Mona Keijzer said in a letter submitted to the House of Representatives that “the approach to housing discrimination is starting to yield results.” 

Home seekers are less often excluded in the initial phase of the selection process, and awareness of discrimination in housing rentals is increasing,” the letter goes on. “This is a very positive development, but there is still room for improvement. We see that many rental agencies are still willing to facilitate discrimination (in)directly.”

To tackle the problem, the Dutch government is pushing to promote awareness, for instance, with a campaign to inform tenants and home seekers about how they can report housing discrimination. Later this year, the VRO will bring together industry associations and the association representing the Dutch municipalities to identify further action they can take to prevent housing discrimination.