‘How will I buy?’: housing crisis grips the Netherlands as Dutch go to polls

Years of government policy have stimulated home ownership and left building to the market, creating a situation where many are priced out and cannot find an affordable house to buy, or to rent. Dozens of people demonstrated last week in The Hague and presented a petition with 102,621 signatures calling for affordable housing to Hugo de Jonge, the housing minister.

The average home costs €424,681, more than 10 times the modal income. From 2015 to 2021, average household disposable income increased by 25%, but house prices rocketed by 63%, fuelled by low interest and a national shortage of 390,000 homes. By the peak of its housing boom last year, houses in hotspots had increased by more than 130% since the end of 2013.