Investors bought significantly fewer owner-occupied homes last year | living

The Land Registry, which registers all property data in the Netherlands, conducted research into the influence of small investors (maximum four houses) on the housing market. For the first time since 2013, the group that buys houses for rent has decreased.

The number of homes that investors acquired doubled between 2010 and 2020 to 88,000 homes per year. And then fell to 51,000 in 2021. The fact that investors were stealing owner-occupied homes in front of starters who had less to contribute is a thorn in the side of the political parties in the coalition. Especially because the rents in the free sector through the roof went. Under the guise of ‘homes are for living in, not for making money’, the housing market is being made more unattractive for investors.

Municipalities have also been given the opportunity a self-occupancy obligation (purchase protection). 60% of the municipalities have or want such a self-occupancy obligation. Especially the big cities have made quick work of it. In Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, private investors have bought more than 25 percent of the homes sold in the past ten years. In the whole of the Netherlands this was more than 15 percent. In the last quarter of 2020, investors in the four major cities even bought more than 40 percent of the homes sold.

Since January 1, 2021, the transfer tax has been adjusted in various ways. Buyers under the age of 35 no longer have to pay tax for the purchase of a house, provided the price is below 400,000 euros. Above that, each new owner-occupant pays 2 percent. Investors were presented with a higher bill last year, namely 8 percent instead of 2 percent tax. She saves 18,000 euros on a house of 3 tons.

The proportions in the housing stock are shifting slightly due to investor purchases. The share of small investors increased due to the number of homes they bought from owner-occupiers. Large institutional investors mainly bought new-build homes. 57 percent of all homes in the Netherlands were owner-occupied on 1 January 2022. About 30 percent is owned by housing associations and 13 percent by other landlords, some of whom still have rent protection (social rent).

That investors are investing less money in real estate than two years ago was also apparent from figures from Capital Value. The real estate company calculated that 7.7 billion euros was invested in homes last year, which is a decrease of 32.5 percent of the transaction volume in 2020. In proportion, more money went to new construction. Housing market analysts also assume that investors are aware that a price cap has been reached. House prices fell in the past quarter, as the numbers showed of real estate association NVM.