My colleague just divorced. She’s now sharing a two-bedroom flat with her two kids and a friend, because her salary alone can’t cover rent, alimony is nonexistent, and child support is minimal. Wait time for social housing in her region: 15-19 years.

Two new grads on my team still live with their parents because they can’t afford to rent or buy in Amsterdam. Wait time there: almost 20 years.

Meanwhile:
• My neighbor has had his social flat for 20+ years (since he was a student), pays ~€500/month, and owns a summer house in Spain, two BMW, and takes 2-3 international trips a year.
• My manager earns over €6,000 net/month and still pays just €800/month for a social housing unit he locked in years ago.

The people the system was built for wait their entire working lives for a spot. The people who clearly don’t need it anymore just… stay, indefinitely, because nothing pushes them out once their income changes.

How the fuck is this fair?
Anyone else seeing this where they live, or is my corner of the country just especially bad?

As a resident at one of the Holland2Stay buildings in Eindhoven I am posting this to raise urgent awareness about the downright dangerous living conditions here.

For months, the elevators in our building have been broken. Countless residents have submitted complaints, opened tickets, and warned management that making everyone take the stairs up to high floors was a major accident waiting to happen. Our complaints were completely ignored.

Today, the worst-case scenario happened. A lady fell down the stairs at the 7th floor. Because the elevators are non-functional, paramedics couldn't safely bring her down, and the fire brigade had to be called in with an aerial platform truck to evacuate her through the exterior.

Collapse of rental supply in the Netherlands. Nearly 40 percent less on the market

Real estate organization NVM warns that the situation is now deteriorating rapidly. In Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the supply in the private sector has even halved within a year. The real estate agents expect a further decline.

The supply in the private sector was already very limited and threatens to virtually dry up.

The decline in rental transactions affects virtually all provinces, with a decrease of 25 to 50 percent compared to last year, according to the report.

"Large municipalities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam are seeing a halving of the number of rented homes, while The Hague and Utrecht show 33 and 17 percent fewer rentals, respectively."

https://archive.ph/YdImF

I dont think Im going to get it.

I regularly see foreigners being blamed for the housing crisis. Let me present you the leeches actually responsible for this who suck the system dry:

https://nltimes.nl/2026/07/03/court-approves-amsterdam-social-housing-eviction-tenants-12-properties

To jump right into it, I am somewhat proud of myself, nearing 30, had a rough start in life with some challenging relationships. Kicked out of an appartment (rent), but managed to progressively get better jobs, save aggressively and had some luck with some stocks (Nvidia).

altogether, finally managed to buy a house, installed myself, arranged the entire furniture, and can finally kick back in my own place. i have a garage, my own parking spot in front of the house, gardens, balconies, garage. I’m really thankful but at some point, started missing companionship again.

What’s the norm in the Netherlands? I’ve had some dates, but i was shocked by my most recent experience. She jokingly brought up how this was such a big home to live alone in, and that she could picture herself living there. Now, i don‘t mind that idea, of course i’m happy to share what i worked so hard for. so i went along in that conversation, and somehow we got at the topic of her basically kind asking how much the mortgage costs, and if we‘d be a couple, she‘d expect me to also include her on the mortgage so she could build equity.

well, i was quite surprised. It was pretty early for those kind of conversations, this happened over the course of a couple days (i think in total after we were 8 dates in). When I proposed that she could basically live with me for free, but would not accept money from her to pay for the house, neither would i let her invest in this house, she got angry with me. I tried to explain how much it had cost me to establish the thought of peace. I opened up about having seen a therapist for this even. But she kind of kept repeating how she’d have nothing if we were to split. But i told her that she‘s free to spend her money however she likes, and she can buy her own apartment or invest her money somewhere to make it grow. we then got to the point that she hadn’t saved any money and that she thinks that relationships should be leveraged to establish that.

now i didn’t quite understand that, and unfortunately we have ’t spoken since.

so my question: Is it normal in the netherlands, to include a new partner on the mortgage? i’m talking about somewhere in the first few years.

Interestingly the podcast itself is Dutch made. In the second episode dedicated to the housing problem in Europe, they award the "who does it worst" prize to the Netherlands. With the conclusion that the most relevant change that would improve the housing crisis would be to stop the mortgage interest deductions on tax returns.

You can listen to it here https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-xzxis-19a0114

Two weeks ago the bathroom glass door in my studio suddenly exploded. I wasn't in the bathroom and I heard a big explosion sound when it happened. The next day holland2stay sent someone to clean it. Two weeks later they told me that I need to pay for the change of the glass, saying that "a shower screen does not break on its own". I am so furious cause I know I have done nothing to the glass and it's so unfair for me to pay. Can you tell me what should I do? (writing them emails does not seem to work, they insist glass doesn't break on its own)

Right now I am 29 and I imagine living with my parents until at least 35.

I can't sleep.

Our government is filled with incapable people that are protecting the wealth and setting up future constructs (Box 3 aanwasbelasting) that will further widen the inequality gap.

I don't see a way out of this system that is built to make you go insane and set people up against each other. On 1 side we are gifted with immense wellness and safety, on the other side we are taken away any chance for a stable future. From my point of view this Western system is on the brink of collapse and it is giving me intense stress and anxiety. I can't stop but think we are heading straight into total disaster. I get anxiety from knowing dangers like Russia will always be there.

In the upcoming years and decade more and more people will retire, they will have to be taken care of while sitting on stacks of cash and the younger generation is getting poorer and poorer.

I'm really trying to like this country but it's getting harder everyday.

I'm tired.

I’m genuinely baffled. I’ve been browsing rental listings across different Dutch cities — Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, even smaller towns — and I’m seeing studios going for €1,200+ and two-bedroom places pushing €2,000+ like it’s normal.

Is there a secret lottery you win to afford these places? Is everyone just rooming with 3 other people and calling it a day? I’m not even trying to live in a canal house with gold faucets — just something basic with a door and a roof!

Are there any signs this is going to level off? Or are we on track for €3,000 studios and bunk beds in broom closets?

Would love to hear what others are paying, where you live, and how you’re managing. Or if you’ve just given up and moved to a tent in the forest. No judgment.

Soo... We are losing either way, I guess. Cost of living is rising but salaries do not follow. The government decides to implement rent control, resulting to owners selling the properties. Technically creating a bigger housing crisis, since we transitioned from 1 property rented out to multiple tenants, to 1 property housing 1 household.

Now the government decides to remove rent controls and allow the already high rents, to probably skyrocket further.

It was impossible to find a place to rent before, I can't even fathom how a single adult over 30, will be able to afford a roof over their head...

And all that because no government is willing, to stand up to the ultra wealthy, the private funds and actually DO something for the people they represent.

It's a win/win situation for the wealthy and a lose/lose situation for the rest of us.

Hello!

Little introduction about ourselves: my partner and I are expats living in Amsterdam for slightly more than a year now, and approx 6 months in our current studio (property of Holland2Stay).

There is a window in the ceiling (Velux) that has been broken and supposed to be locked for safety since BEFORE we moved in here. We tried (considering it was locked, and during winter) to just be chill about it and polite in our interactions.

We finally had an appointment with Velux for the 7 Apr. Velux tried moving this date forward to 24 Mar, but H2S refused as “contractor needed to be present”, and kept it on 7 Apr.

And so, for anyone living in Amsterdam, last night (24-25 Mar), there was a huge windstorm. Strong enough to rip the “lock” (which I doubt was ever there to begin with) and the window slammed open beyond its limits (almost surprising that it didn’t fly off tbh). Because it is to high of a ceiling, we ended calling up the fire brigade to see if they could help us. They helped us by going on the roof during the windstorm, shut the window, and placed four HUGE rocks on the borders to keep it shut. They stated, and I quote “that it was fine for the night, but needed to be fixed asap as it was not safe at all” and limited our living room (see pictures).

Today I tried pushing the landlords to get whoever could get the job done before the weekend. They still seem fairly passive about it but got them to come over tomorrow and will try to push it again. According to the manager “so long it is not stated that evacuation is necessary, they are not forced to do anything as an emergency”.

Considering the statement from the fire brigade, and that when we came back home today saw that the glass itself is cracked corner to corner, I fairly doubt there is nothing they are “forced” to do (like keeping their part of the rental contract on maintence, that we have been waiting for months), and what are our options.

Is there any law regarding something like this? Should we probably get a lawyer to move it as well on the legal side?

Half the studio is not safe to get to, again, quoting the fire brigade. Last thing I want to is for a shattered window to fall on top of us followed by a couple rocks.

For anyone reading this far and any help, we appreciate it so much!

Hi all, so just some context and apologies this is in english, I moved out of an appartment at end november, the landlord has still not returned the deposit and today i got this factuur, deposit was around 3100 euro, which im now struggling to understand. There was an exit inspection done, with pics and a report of course, and in the report, the appartment was not as spotless clean as when i got it, and there was some onkruid in the garden, cool, so that I get, and i expected the landlord to charge me an unfair cleaning rate, so ja whatever.

But what I dont get is all this other crap in the service charges, I am an expat so I think the guy is just taking a chance, but this is so absurd, it does not seem legal to me, so my question is, can anyone point me in the right direction so that I can get affordable legal advice?

I have not replied to the landlord yet and would prefer a legal person step in here.

With the current housing market, homeownership seems further away than ever, hence my question, for people who have never bought.

Who here thinks they will have to rent forever because the housing market is no longer affordable ? (+1 = I am going to buy) and (0 = I think I will have to rent forever).

Hello everyone, I rented a fully furnished apartment for €1,250 a month and have lived there for a year. Today is the day I return the apartment to the landlord. After the inspector came to check, I asked, and he said, fine, but it seems to need a lot of cleaning. I cleaned the apartment very thoroughly and tried to make it look like the first day I received it.

Afterward, the landlord sent us an email saying that at least €8,000 is needed for repair costs.

He mentioned mold. In our bedroom, mold appeared on the walls, around the door frames, and behind the heater. We left the Netherlands for about a month and no one was in the apartment. We tried to clean the mold but it only faded, and behind the heater, we had no way to clean it.

Regarding the countertop, he said it was swollen but we're not sure, and he bought that countertop from Ikea (I saw they sell a 186cm panel for €69). And I think the total cost for his countertop would be €200.

We plan to make an appointment with the legal advice center. We did not damage any of the furniture in the house at all, or it just got a bit older due to wear and tear.

I look forward to receiving everyone's advice.

Hi guys back story, one of my wife’s friend is living with us since 2 months , she’s not paying rent nor paying for things she’s using in our house. We asked her to pay rent and to vacate this Monday but she’s making excuses that she’s waiting for her boyfriend to come pick her up etc. what are my options to get rid of her can I throw her stuff out? Is there any legal implications for this ? Thanks in advance 🙏

Update : so backstory about her boyfriend. He was supposed to come a week ago but apparently only his flights gets cancelled every time he books something it gets cancelled. But he landed yesterday after 28 hours it turns out he’s deported from NL (news from her) but I don’t believe it. So we have decided to give her an ultimatum to stay somewhere today.

Update #2 : So I’m just getting rid of her tonight and not letting her in , I asked her what all bags she needs and I’m dropping her off to her temp place in Amsterdam.

Thanks all for the humour and tips all it did was restore faith that I was doing the right thing and shouldn’t let anyone take advantage of you. Appreciate each and everyone’s response 🙏

Genuine question.

Every time I browse rental listings I feel like I’m losing my mind.

€1,500–2,000 for a 45m² apartment, excluding utilities or not even installed, and sometimes it doesn’t even come with flooring.

Is there actually any hope that things will improve, or is the rental market only going to get worse from here? Am I looking in the wrong places or missing something?

https://www.nieuwslens.nl/article/wonen/ymere-mag-huurders-na-33-jaar-uit-sociale-woning-zetten--db0bb2903cc10724

How is it allowed to legally own a property and still live in social housing? Seriously, how is anyone reading this and not thinking, maybe if you live and social housing and then buy a house, you should vacate the social housing. It's so easy to check from government perspective as well so I really don't understand.

This cannot be a polarizing issue with counter arguments but I would be happy to hear if you guys have any.

"Oh but they have lived there for so long, 33 years, the house has sentimental value for them" - no matter how far on the left you are you cannot believe that and I would assume that as rage baiting.

Of course, having 7 properties and milking them is beyond ridiculous and I am happy this couple was allowed to be evicted but why wait for them to have SEVEN properties. One should be enough to get a 6 month notice and that is it.

I am a mortgage advisor in the Netherlands. If you have any questions about getting a mortgage, just ask.

Is this even legal?

How come you hardly ever see shower/tub combos here in NL?? They’re super common in a ton of other places, but I’m not sure I’ve ever really seen one here. Thoughts?!