Housing in the Netherlands

Overview

While each municipality in the Netherlands is structured slightly differently, the identification of available homes for migrants is ultimately the responsibility of the respective municipality. Due to long-standing housing shortages for all residents in the Netherlands, securing low-cost housing for the vulnerable has reached crisis levels, with municipalities within the so-called Randstad (central provinces within the country occupied by the four largest cities) suffering the most. To share this burden, all municipalities are assigned – by the Dutch government – a quota of asylum seekers and refugees whom they must secure housing. This quota figure is based on the municipality’s general population and the number of migrant resident permit holders on a waitlist for housing. During the peak migration flow in 2015-2016, a number of community-based housing initiatives evolved in response to the extensive number of asylum seekers without accommodation. Those included creative solutions such as converting prisons into housing, accommodating migrants and students or the elderly together in institutional accommodations, and using holiday homes/recreational parks as housing. Some of which still remain today as backup options in times of shortages.

In theory, the receipt of a residence permit, under the direction of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), allows asylum seekers to relocate from asylum reception centres into the community and to participate actively in their own (immersive) integration. Resettled refugees, on the other hand, are pre-assigned housing prior to their arrival in the Netherlands. As with other resident permit holders, the type of accommodation and location is allocated from the social housing register with respect to individual profiles – employment history, education needs, medical concerns, family composition etc. Occasionally, single asylum seekers and refugees are housed together in shared housing arrangements (flat share). However, asylum seekers and refugees are free to search for alternatives without the support of COA or the municipality. They are entitled to apply for social welfare to cover the cost of rent, and access to public loan schemes (or grants, depending on the municipality) to enable them to furnish their homes to their own tastes.

Beneficiaries of the Dutch family reunification scheme are supported by the Dutch organization The Dutch Refugee Council and naturally, the family member based in the Netherlands (primary applicant). An application for reunification to the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice requires the primary applicant to indicate availability of suitable housing (amongst other criteria). Upon their arrival in the Netherlands, beneficiaries travel directly to the assigned house – commonly, the same residence as the primary applicant. The primary applicants do not need to own their home, but they are required to show evidence of sustaining the basic needs of the dependent who will travel to the Netherlands, which includes accommodating them.

Access to housing for international students and labour migrants is a longstanding challenge in the Netherlands due to decades of housing shortages. While some universities and employers offer housing arrangements, waiting lists are impossibly long and often the quality of housing is questionable. The extreme demand for housing is unfortunately capitalised upon by unscrupulous housing providers and scams. Vulnerable groups include low-skilled labour migrants, individuals on unstable/short term work permits and individuals without any support network in the Netherlands. The Dutch government, together with labour unions, universities, expat centres and student welfare groups actively publish information about housing and the risks associated with scams etc, but as demand increases, those who are most desperate to find a roof over their heads, are more likely to take risks. While the demand has certainly reduced following the Covid-19 pandemic, the housing shortage prevails and will likely resume to its crisis levels once student and labour migrants return to the Netherlands.

Covid-19

As one of the world’s most densely populated countries, the Netherlands has suffered from a housing shortage for decades. The pandemic has placed greater pressure on the availability of low-income housing due to the lower capacity of municipalities, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) and social housing agencies. According to non-Covid conditions, municipalities in the Netherlands should house a total of 9.000 beneficiaries of international protection in the second half of 2020; however, in reaction to Covid-induced backlogs, this figure has been reduced to 6.500 as a courtesy measure to struggling municipalities. Meaning that 2.500 asylum seekers in reception centres who are entitled to housing will remain on the waitlist (and will remain in the reception centre) for at least an additional six months. Consequently, reception centres in the Netherlands are also reaching full capacity: as of April 2020, more than 5.800 asylum seekers were already on the national waitlist for housing. Multiple municipalities are reporting on an inability to meet their quotas for housing permit holders, pushing provincial governments to take more action to address the issue. The National Steering Committee for Migration and Integration is now focusing on opening more reception centres across the country to cater to the number of asylum seekers who are in possession of resident permits, but lack the ability to access housing in the community.

Following the courtesy measures of 2020 where municipalities were excused from the standard quota of migrants whom they are usually required to house per year, in January 2021, it was announced by the Dutch government that to address the growing waitlist of eligible migrants waiting for homes, municipalities will be required to house 27.000 resident permit holders in 2021. This is in fact twice the quota from 2020. This demand is due to the growing number of migrants who have been eligible for housing, but remain in asylum centres and thus unable to participate in society – some for over two years. It is also a response to Dutch immigration authorities catching up on asylum applications; as the processing of applications was stalled during the first phases of the pandemic. Municipalities have addressed formal letters to the Dutch government to declare inability to uphold this new quota requirement, and concerns that it may compromise other home seekers who are also struggling to find affordable housing. More pressure is being put on the government to construct temporary homes and to identify available, low-cost housing.