Dutch households are allocating a smaller percentage of their income to housing expenses compared to five years ago, according to recent data from the national statistics agency CBS.

This decrease is primarily attributed to income growth outpacing the rise in housing costs between 2018 and 2023, as stated by CBS. The most significant improvement was observed among tenants of housing corporation properties, where housing costs decreased from 31% to 25.4% of their income.

Homeowners and private-sector tenants also experienced a slight reduction in the proportion of income spent on housing, according to CBS.

However, in terms of actual monetary value, monthly housing bills have increased.

Private sector rental housing tenants have experienced the largest increase, with costs rising by 23% since 2018. Homeowners’ costs increased by 6%, while housing corporation tenants saw an 11% increase.

Government initiatives, including measures to limit energy costs and freeze rents in the social housing sector during the coronavirus crisis, helped mitigate the increases for many tenants, CBS noted.

A recent proposal to freeze social housing rents for two years to assist low-income households was recently abandoned, and rents are now set to increase by 5% in July.