Foreign investors line up for Dutch resi portfolios

Foreign investors are lining up to buy residential portfolios from Dutch housing corporations, according to Clive Pritchard, managing director of Savills Netherlands.

Speaking at the Provada real estate fair in Amsterdam this week, Pritchard said recent legislative changes would provide an impulse to investment in the sector but warned that it would most likely take another 12 months before sales start getting under way. ‘There will be opportunities, but not now,’ he said.

Under recent legislative changes, Dutch housing corporations can now sell portfolios at market values. The changes are aimed at incentivizing the corporations to focus on their core activity and build more new social housing.
While rental levels in the regulated housing sector are relatively low, they are very stable, Pritchard pointed out. ‘They won’t get any worse and there’s still a nice spread.’

According to Eddy Smit, director of Dutch asset manager MVGM, German and UK players are particularly interested in the Dutch residential sector. ‘House prices here have fallen more sharply than in those countries, while rents continue to rise. It is possible to realise good returns, while the risks are relatively limited.’

Smit said he was already in advanced talks with a number of foreign investors interested in the Dutch residential sector. ‘I expect to sign one or more agreements in the near future.’

Earlier this year, UK family office Hanson Asset Management signed an agreement with the municipality of The Hague to develop and acquire both private and social rental homes.

Housing corporations have traditionally held a dominant role in the Dutch residential sector and are the major player in the rental market. The private rental market is still relatively small in comparison to the regulated sector and demand by far exceeds supply.