7 percent of vacant social housing allocated to asylum seekers in 2022
In 2022, 162.5 thousand social housing units became vacant and thus available for another household to move into. This figure relates to social housing units that were not shared by multiple households. Of these vacant social housing units, nearly 7 percent (11 thousand units) were allocated to households that included one or more asylum seekers with residency. In the previous four years, that share was between 4 and 6 percent.
| Jaar | Without asylum seekers (x 1,000) | With asylum seeker(s) with residency (x 1,000) |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 158.63 | 9.05 |
| 2019 | 155.87 | 7.63 |
| 2020 | 153.03 | 7.03 |
| 2021 | 158.66 | 10.66 |
| 2022 | 151.37 | 11.14 |
More than 3 percent of newly vacant social housing units (nearly 6 thousand dwellings) were allocated to asylum seekers who were either granted a residence permit in 2022 or had previously been living in an (emergency) reception location run by the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). A further 3 percent of social housing units were allocated to asylum seekers who had already held a residence permit for over a year. These people were no longer living in a COA reception centre. Municipalities are responsible for providing initial housing for people who have been granted residency.
| Huishouden | Without asylum seekers (x 1,000) | With asylum seeker(s) with residency (x 1,000) |
|---|---|---|
| Single-person household | 95.97 | 5.59 |
| Couples without children | 23.94 | 0.78 |
| One-parent families | 19.33 | 1.11 |
| Couples with children | 11.29 | 3.59 |
| Other | 0.84 | 0.09 |
More couples with children
Households that include an asylum seeker with residency who moved into social housing were more likely than other types of households to be couples with children (32 percent and 7 percent, respectively). Other households that moved into social housing were, by contrast, more likely to be single-person households, single-parent families or couples without children.
| Jaar | 2018 (%) | 2019 (%) | 2020 (%) | 2021 (%) | 2022 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 6.3 | 6.9 |
| Couples with children | 19.4 | 15.9 | 14.9 | 21.5 | 24.1 |
| Single-person households | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 5.2 | 5.5 |
| Couples without children | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Single-parent families | 4.8 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 5 | 5.4 |
| Other | 8.4 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 7.3 | 9.1 |
| 1) Concerns newly vacant social housing units allocated to asylum seekers granted residency in the Netherlands | |||||
In 2022, 15 thousand couples with children moved into social housing. Almost a quarter of these were couples that included an asylum seeker with residency. Nearly three-quarters of these couples moved from a COA reception centre or had been granted residency within the previous year.
Among single-person households and single-parent families that moved into social housing, 5 percent included an asylum seeker (nearly 6 thousand single-person households and over a thousand single-parent families). Among couples without children who moved into social housing, 3 percent included an asylum seeker with residency (800 in total).
Asylum seekers less likely to leave previous home vacant
In 2022, asylum seekers living in social housing units were more likely to be new entrants to the housing market than in previous years. This means that they did not leave their previous home vacant. In 2022, 19 percent of households that included an asylum seeker that were allocated social housing left another home vacant, down from 36 percent in 2018. Households with no asylum seeker were more likely to have left their previous home vacant between 2018 and 2022: just over half of them did so.
In 2022, more than 60 percent of households with an asylum seeker were new entrants to the housing market (nearly 7 thousand households). In 2018, that share was 39 percent. Of all the 76 thousand households that moved into social housing in 2022 and did not leave their previous home vacant, 12 percent were households that included an asylum seeker with residency.
In addition, 20 percent of asylum seekers moved into a social housing unit from another home without leaving it vacant (over 2 thousand households). This was often because other residents continued living there.
In 2022, 24 percent of households including an asylum seeker and children had left their previous home vacant. Among other couples with children, that share was 82 percent. Of all social housing units allocated in 2022 to couples with children who did not leave their previous home vacant (nearly 5 thousand), 57 percent were allocated to households with asylum seeker(s) with residency. Among single-person households, those without an asylum seeker were almost four times as likely to leave their previous home vacant as households with an asylum seeker.
| Jaar | New entrants to housing market (%) | Moving without leaving previous home vacant (%) | Moving and leaving previous home vacant (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | With asylum seeker(s) | 61.6 | 19.6 | 18.9 |
| 2022 | Without asylum seekers | 22.2 | 22.2 | 55.6 |
| 2020 | With asylum seeker(s) | 45.5 | 23.4 | 31.2 |
| 2020 | Without asylum seekers | 21.8 | 23.8 | 54.3 |
| 2018 | With asylum seeker(s) | 38.9 | 24.8 | 36.3 |
| 2018 | Without asylum seekers | 22.1 | 24.3 | 53.7 |
Regional differences
There were regional differences in the share of social housing units allocated to households with an asylum seeker with temporary residency in 2022. In the region of Zuidwest-Gelderland, for instance, the percentage of newly vacant social housing units with an asylum seeker with residency was relatively high (11 percent), and also in the regions of Agglomeratie 's-Gravenhage, Oost-Zuid-Holland and Midden-Limburg (between 9 and 10 percent). It was lowest in Delfzijl en omgeving (1 percent), compared to 4 percent in 2018.
| Regio | 2022 (%) | 2021 (%) | 2020 (%) | 2019 (%) | 2018 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oost-Groningen | 4.3 | 5.3 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.8 |
| Delfzijl en omgeving | 1.2 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 4.3 |
| Overig Groningen | 5.8 | 5.8 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.4 |
| Noord-Friesland | 6.0 | 6.2 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| Zuidwest-Friesland | 4.8 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| Zuidoost-Friesland | 5.8 | 6.4 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| Noord-Drenthe | 5.8 | 5.4 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 5.0 |
| Zuidoost-Drenthe | 6.1 | 7.2 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 4.7 |
| Zuidwest-Drenthe | 7.2 | 6.6 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 6.5 |
| Noord-Overijssel | 7.9 | 6.9 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 5.6 |
| Zuidwest-Overijssel | 6.9 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 4.9 |
| Twente | 6.0 | 5.9 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.5 |
| Veluwe | 7.5 | 6.3 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 5.7 |
| Achterhoek | 7.7 | 7.9 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 6.8 |
| Arnhem/Nijmegen | 7.4 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 5.3 |
| Zuidwest-Gelderland | 10.7 | 5.8 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| Utrecht | 9.0 | 7.2 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 6.7 |
| Kop van Noord-Holland | 6.4 | 5.8 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
| Alkmaar en omgeving | 7.6 | 8.1 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 6.6 |
| IJmond | 6.3 | 6.0 | 3.5 | 5.1 | 5.5 |
| Agglomeratie Haarlem | 8.5 | 7.0 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 6.9 |
| Zaanstreek | 6.6 | 6.3 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 4.5 |
| Groot-Amsterdam | 5.2 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 6.3 |
| Het Gooi en Vechtstreek | 6.9 | 8.2 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 6.1 |
| Agglomeratie Leiden en Bollenstreek | 6.4 | 6.5 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 5.5 |
| Agglomeratie 's-Gravenhage | 9.5 | 6.3 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 5.3 |
| Delft en Westland | 4.9 | 3.8 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 4.8 |
| Oost-Zuid-Holland | 9.3 | 8.2 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 7.1 |
| Groot-Rijnmond | 6.6 | 6.4 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.7 |
| Zuidoost-Zuid-Holland | 7.2 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 5.3 | 5.2 |
| Zeeuwsch-Vlaanderen | 6.6 | 8.0 | 5.4 | 6.9 | 5.2 |
| Overig Zeeland | 6.1 | 7.3 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5.2 |
| West-Noord-Brabant | 7.5 | 6.6 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 4.8 |
| Midden-Noord-Brabant | 5.6 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| Noordoost-Noord-Brabant | 7.0 | 7.4 | 5.4 | 5.0 | 5.1 |
| Zuidoost-Noord-Brabant | 7.5 | 7.1 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.3 |
| Noord-Limburg | 7.0 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 6.1 |
| Midden-Limburg | 9.3 | 8.8 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 8.2 |
| Zuid-Limburg | 5.6 | 5.4 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 5.3 |
| Flevoland | 7.8 | 7.3 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 6.0 |
Nearly 270 thousand people moved into social housing in 2022
In 2022, 269 thousand people moved into one of the 162.5 thousand social housing units that became vacant that year. Of these, 24 thousand people (9 percent) were asylum seekers granted residency in the Netherlands. Expressed in terms of the share of households, that represented 7 percent. The higher share of asylum seekers at the household level was because households without asylum seekers had fewer members than households with asylum seekers, on average.
46 thousand social housing units occupied by households that include an asylum seeker with residency
At the end of 2022, there were 2.1 million social housing units in the Netherlands. Of these, nearly 46 thousand (2.1 percent) were occupied by a household that included an asylum seeker granted residency in the Netherlands. When we also include former asylum seekers who now have Dutch nationality, almost 161 thousand social housing units were home to at least one (former) asylum seeker. That was 7.5 percent of all social housing units.
Woonbase: the place where all the figures on housing come together
Woonbase is a database that provides a wide range of figures on housing in the Netherlands, created in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning. Woonbase looks at housing from various perspectives and facilitates research into the housing market and housing situations of individuals and households.