Dutch insurance giant Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance acquired a record number of 3,131 housing units for the investment portfolios of its institutional clients in 2016.
In the coming year, Syntrus Achmea RE&F aims to acquire a similar amount of residential units as last year, the company's management board chairman Henk Jagersma said.
'Demand for medium-priced rental housing is enormous, both from the market and investors. We are proud of our contribution, but with more supply of new housing and existing portfolios, we would have been able to have bought even more properties for our clients. There is excessive capital available. Institutional investors had €5.5 bn available for the Dutch residential market last year, of which more than €1 bn was not deployed. This year even more capital is available, or €6 bn.'
According to Jagersma, Dutch municipalities need to take measures to stimulate the construction of medium-priced rental housing. 'We believe that the number of locations for development should be signficantly increased and that 30% of each site should be reserved for affordable rental housing.'
In the coming decades, the number of households in the Netherlands is expected to rise by one million, particularly in the cities. Single senior citiziens will account for the bulk of the growth, with an above-average share of many low and middle incomes. In addition, a growing group of young professionals is looking for a home in the cities. For this group, regulated rental or owner-ocuppied housing is often not an option.
'These trends are very clear, but consumers are not being served by new supply,' Jagersma said.
As a result, affordable housing is becoming increasingly scarce in Dutch cities for the middle income bracket. 'That is socially unacceptable and bad for the innovation of our cities. More affordable rental housing will create more supply and brake rental increases. At the same time, it will encourage movement out of the regulated rental sector, which will create more supply in that segment.'
