The Netherlands has more than 200.000 homes standing empty

Based on preliminary figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the number of unoccupied homes in the Netherlands has grown. Despite the Dutch housing shortage, this summer, more than 200.000 homes were vacant - 3 percent more than at the beginning of the year. 

Growing number of Dutch homes go unoccupied

On January 1, 194.500 homes stood empty and this number has continued to grow even with the increasing housing shortage across the Netherlands. Indeed, on July 1, 2025, this figure rose to 200.670 - equivalent to a whopping 21,5 million square metres.

The major Dutch cities are impacted the most, with Amsterdam seeing the highest number of vacant homes at 21.770. The pattern is similar in Rotterdam (10.870), Eindhoven (4.000) and The Hague (2.640). 

However, homes don’t always stay vacant for long periods. At the start of 2025, there were 64.360 homes that went unoccupied for more than a year - a much smaller number compared with the total number of vacant homes during that period.

Dutch government approves vacancy tax

To tackle the high vacancy rates in the country, the Dutch government wants to introduce a tax on properties that have been vacant for more than a year. Just this week, the Senate approved the proposal.

The Association of Municipalities in the Netherlands (VNG) hopes that municipalities will be able to introduce the tax soon. "It's important that municipalities that introduce this tax can subsequently demonstrate that properties have been vacant for extended periods, or at least that they strongly suspect this is the case," VNG spokesperson Esther Verhoeff told Het Parool. "Then the tax can be levied." 

Municipalities will be able to request energy consumption data from grid operators for properties believed to be unoccupied to determine whether the vacancy tax applies. Amsterdam is also planning on introducing a permit system for second homes from 2026 to cut down the number of unoccupied houses and apartments in the Dutch capital.

Proposal to reduce home vacancies faces criticism

However, the new vacancy tax does face some criticism. “The proposals seem to be based primarily on the idea that long-term vacancy is the result of deliberate policies by private landlords, while that's not the case," says director of the trade association for private landlords, VastgoedBelang, Edward Touw. "It's absurd that municipalities can impose fines when the delays are often caused by the very municipality itself." 

Municipalities often have strict requirements for dividing buildings into smaller homes causing delays, while permits for large home renovations also take a long time, which means homes stand empty for longer.

Professor of housing systems Peter Boelhouwer agrees that homes aren’t always left empty on purpose. "Very few people or organisations deliberately leave homes vacant," he says. "Many homes are also vacant because people are renovating or because the resident has passed away and the heirs can't find a solution. These are all unusual situations."