Foreign investors are increasingly focusing on the Dutch rental market
Between 2013 and 2015, corporations sold 15,000 homes to investors, according to figures from housing associations, the NRC reports.
The majority were social housing and the majority were bought by foreign investors.
Foreign investors previously invested more in offices and retail, but now the Dutch rental market has been discovered.
Not happy
Not everyone is happy with the arrival of investors. It is feared that corporations selling to investors will contribute to the further decrease in available social housing.
Arnhem, Barneveld and Dongen took Minister Stef Blok (VVD Housing) to court, to ask for his approval for the sale of Vestia homes in their communities to be reversed. Their case was successful, and at the end of June, the court declared Blok’s decision void.
Prominent investors
There are some prominent investors. The American billionaire and philanthropist George Soros bought over six hundred apartments in the Arnhem region from the Vivare corporation.
The transaction record is held by the German property fund Patrizia, which bought more than 5,500 apartments and houses in 2014 from the Vestia corporation for 570 million euros. US Roundhill Capital says it has bought approximately 9,000 apartments on the Dutch market in three years
