The Dutch Housing Paradox

If you live in the Netherlands, you know about the struggle to find housing… especially as an expat. It feels like every news report is about shortages, high prices, and crazy competition for both rentals and properties. You find yourself wondering if there are any homes left at all. But what if a big part of the solution is hidden in plain sight?

Believe it or not, the number of unoccupied buildings is large enough to house the entire population of Utrecht. While nearly 400,000 households are looking for a home, millions of square meters of space are sitting unused, collecting dust. It’s a frustrating situation, but understanding it is the first step toward fixing it.

The Scale of Emptiness

Recent calculations by the Central Bureau of Statistics and the journalism platform Pointer yielded a wild number: 17.8 million square meters of property are “structurally empty.” This means they haven’t had a resident or tenant for at least a year and show almost no energy use.

To put that into perspective, this space is equivalent to about 200,000 brand-new apartments. With the current shortage of 400,000 homes, using this space would solve half of the country’s housing crisis overnight. The space is there, but turning it into homes is where things get tricky.

Where is All This Empty Space?

Vacant properties aren’t just one type of building. It’s a mix of offices, shops, and even homes that have fallen out of use for various reasons.

Hidden Homes in Shopping Streets

Have you ever walked down a busy shopping street and looked up? You might be surprised to find that an estimated 50,000 potential homes are sitting empty above or behind the shops. Years ago, many of the original front doors and stairwells to these apartments were removed to create bigger, more modern storefronts. Without a separate entrance, these spaces became inaccessible and, over time, forgotten.

Offices Awaiting a New Purpose

The move toward remote and hybrid work has left many office buildings completely or partly abandoned. Turning these spaces into apartments seems like a no-brainer, but it’s not that simple. Strict regulations, zoning laws, and building codes can make the process slow and expensive. Companies and developers often face so much red tape that it’s just easier to leave a building empty than to give it a new life.

The Hurdles: Why Aren’t We Using These Spaces?

If the space is there and the need is urgent, what’s stopping us from connecting the two? The roadblocks are an annoying mix of bureaucracy, legal rules, and practical problems.

The Permit Problem

One of the biggest obstacles is the slow-moving permit process. In The Hague, for instance, at least 400 applications for housing conversions are sitting in limbo. Some of these apartments have been ready for almost two years, held back only by paperwork. This delay is a major bottleneck preventing a quick response to the housing shortage.

Rules, Regulations, and Rights

Right now, municipalities don’t have much power to compel property owners to do anything with their vacant buildings. An owner can legally let a perfectly good building stand empty without giving any reason. This lack of leverage keeps thousands of potential homes off the market.

While there’s growing political will to take action—such as introducing a vacancy fine—the details are still fuzzy. A similar fine worked well in Flanders, Belgium, but experts say it’s only effective if cities also streamline the permit process for conversions. A fine without a clear path to compliance won’t fix the root problem.

A Path Forward: Unlocking the Potential

Despite the challenges, there is a clear path to making a real dent in the housing shortage. Success will require smart construction, policy changes, and practical thinking about how to better use what we already have.

1. Convert, Convert, Convert!

The lowest-hanging fruit is converting existing empty spaces. This means: Reopening access to the thousands of apartments above shops and streamlining the process for converting empty offices into residential units by establishing standardized rules for safety, lighting, and access.

Creating a system for prioritizing permits and setting clear deadlines for conversion decisions to cut through the red tape.

2. Build Smarter, Not Just Bigger

While conversions are a great start, we still need new constructions. Taco van Hoek, director of the Economic Institute for Construction, believes the housing shortage can be significantly reduced in five years if the focus is on small, quick projects rather than large, long-term ones. This could mean filling in gaps in existing neighborhoods and adding new streets on the edges of towns where utilities and transport are already in place.

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3. Balance the Regulations

Finally, a healthy housing market needs balanced rules. Regulations that are too strict can scare off the private investment required to build mid-market rentals and finance conversions. At the same time, policies must ensure that housing stays affordable. Striking this balance is crucial for encouraging a steady supply of both new and repurposed homes.

The housing crisis might feel overwhelming, but it’s not just about building from scratch. A vast amount of underused space is just waiting to be transformed. By freeing up these empty square meters, speeding up permit approvals, and keeping up a steady pace of smart construction, we can turn this housing paradox into a real opportunity.