By the Rotterdam Collective

Rotterdam is a city where construction is constant and which is known for its progressive architecture. Nevertheless, like the rest of the Netherlands, our city faces a massive housing crisis. The figures are clear: there are simply not enough homes. The housing that does exist has become unaffordable for many. For years, politicians have been promising to do something about this – but they are failing. Debates often focus on asylum migration and residence permit holders in the social housing sector. Time and again, this proves to be the perfect way to sweep the real causes of the housing shortage under the rug.

Token measures like withdrawing the priority for residence permit holders are just drops in the ocean. After all, this only concerns a very small part of social housing: about 6–7% of the available corporate rental homes in Rotterdam each year go to residence permit holders. Nationally, that figure is around 5–10%. At the end of 2022, only 2.1% of all social housing nationwide was occupied by households with a residence permit holder. That is a small share of a type of housing that itself already is only a small part of the total housing supply.

Partly due to the improved situation in Syria, the number of asylum seekers in 2025 has sharply declined, but the housing shortage in Rotterdam remains just as severe.

A structural problem

In 2024, only 2,500 homes were built in Rotterdam – far below the municipality’s target of 3,500 to 4,000 new homes per year in its 2024 Housing Vision. The number of new homes in Rotterdam is much lower than in other major cities, while more homes are actually being demolished here. Since 2012, the net housing stock has only exceeded 3,500 twice, mainly by splitting existing homes or converting offices.

In the same period, the net total was also negative twice – meaning the number of homes actually decreased in those years. This is largely the result of political choices made by neoliberal right-wing governments. Housing was handed over to the market. This policy was spearheaded by the VVD – a party heavily sponsored by the real estate sector, which only partially discloses such donations despite being legally obliged to.

Scarcity leads to exploitation

Due to the housing shortage, home prices have risen sharply: in ten years, they have doubled. Rents have also risen significantly: between 2020 and 2024, social rents increased by 13%, private sector rents by 20% (Source). There is big money to be made from the fact that there are too few homes and people are desperate. Large investors such as Accresco and Greystar build residential towers with tiny apartments and charge absurdly high rents (€985 for 21 m², €1,750 for 71 m²).

These rents are completely unaffordable for people on a regular income, widening the gap between supply and demand. By focusing on building for higher income groups, Rotterdammers are being driven out of their own city. Singles, young people, and families with a modal income are left behind. Working class people are being forced out of our so called working-class city.

A housing plan doomed to fail

The median income in Rotterdam was €32,200 in 2023 (Source) – the income of the largest group of Rotterdammers. NIBUD recommends spending no more than one-third of your income on housing costs (including gas, water, electricity, and local taxes). Even the upper limit of social rent (€808 in 2023) is tight – that’s 30% of the annual income. But the share of social housing is declining (from 57% in 2012 to 50% in 2021), and the municipality of Rotterdam is failing to address this.

In fact, the Rotterdam Court of Audit already found in 2023 that the municipality was using unsuitable data on housing demand, with the aim of reducing the number of social homes. In 2024, Audit Director Marjolein van Asselt stated that no less than 60% of Rotterdammers qualify for social housing.

In the coalition agreement, it is promised that only 25% of new construction will fall within the social segment – and there are serious doubts whether even 20% will be achieved. The share of social rental housing will therefore continue to decline. The share of housing corporations in the housing stock is falling, while that of private landlords is sharply increasing. As explained above, these private parties are often not interested in building social housing because there are can make more money in other segments.

Public housing is a task of the government. This means taking control and caring for your residents. The city has the responsibility to guarantee affordable housing for its people, but instead, politics seems focused on reducing the social housing sector – thereby giving more space to capitalists. This means the municipality is failing in its responsibility, and so it is up to the residents of our city to demand that it fulfills its basic duties.

It is time to build homes for people who are now on the streets or cannot find a decent place to live – for students and starters. For the ordinary Rotterdammer, like you and me. There are too few homes for the people who need them most, and that suits those who already have everything just fine.

Who benefits from your housing crisis?

One person’s misfortune is another’s gain. Unfortunately, this also applies to the housing shortage. One person’s crisis is another’s business model. The scarcity of affordable (rental) housing – created by political choices, privatization, and outsourcing to real estate companies – has enabled investors to profit greatly from the desperation of a growing group of people.

This is a pattern seen in more areas of our society: high earners extract even more profit at the expense of people who already have little to spend. Your crisis means even more profit for the capitalists – the real estate sector and private investors.

“Build, build, build” – political parties have been yelling this for years. It sounds great on a poster or in a debate, but they don’t say what they want to build or for whom. It’s symbolic politics.

We demand that the municipality tackle this problem at its core: build affordable homes, expropriate rogue speculators, and convert existing buildings into housing. Because people make the city, and Rotterdam should be a place that takes care of its people. Do you want to join the fight for a fairer housing system? Then join us and follow us for more information about future events and actions.

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