SDG 11.1 Housing

The first part of SDG 11 concerns the goals of ensuring that everyone has suitable housing. We spend much of our lives in and around the home. Affordable, good-quality housing in a safe neighbourhood and at a reasonable distance from work improves people’s sense of well-being.

• Housing stock is growing but demand is growing more quickly; rents and house prices are rising.
• Despite rising prices, households are spending a smaller share of the income on housing costs; however, the trend in perceived housing costs is no longer downward.
• A growing share of young adults still live at home.

Dashboard and indicators

Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being

Resources and opportunities concern the housing stock and affordability of owner-occupied and rented housing. The size of the housing stock is trending upwards, but the same is true of the shortfall in available housing. The housing stock grew again in 2025, while the housing shortfall has been stable since 2023. By the end of 2025, the housing stock comprised over 8.3 million homes. In 2025, the housing stock grew by 70 thousand homes on balance.

The housing shortfall, calculated annually by ABF Research on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, is a model-based estimate derived from the most recent statistics on households, people’s housing situation and the housing stock. The shortfall in 2025 is estimated at nearly 400 thousand homes, 4.8 percent of the total housing stock.

A growing percentage of homes are low-gas or gas-free. On 1 January 2024, 13.2 percent of the housing stock used little or no natural gas (excluding new-builds delivered in 2023). A year before, the figure was 11.5 percent of homes. Homes built after 2015 are most likely to be low-gas or gas-free.

Housing is becoming increasingly expensive. Average rents are rising. In 2025, renting was 16 percent more expensive than in 2020. From 2024 to 2025, real rent increases exceeded the levels seen in previous years (5.1 percent). Because rents are rising faster in many other EU countries, the Netherlands is around the middle of the EU rankings (8th out of 27 countries in 2025). The costs of purchasing a home and home ownership are also increasing, rising by 6.1 percent from 2024 to 2025 and up 37.5 percent since 2020. This increase is average compared to other EU-27 countries.

Despite the rise in the cost of housing, households are spending a declining proportion of their incomes on housing costs. When measurements began in 2018, the median ratio of housing costs to disposable income was 24.1 percent. By 2024, it had fallen to 20.1 percent. The Netherlands has one of the highest levels of housing costs as a proportion of disposable income in the EU-27. The median represents the exact midpoint of the distribution of housing cost ratios - housing costs as a proportion of disposable income - for all households. However, there are differences between groups. Renters, especially in the private sector, have a higher housing cost ratio than owner-occupiers, on average. Similarly, households that have recently bought a home face a higher housing cost ratio than those who have lived in their owner-occupied homes for a longer period of time, on average.

Use refers to the homes people live in and their chances of moving up the housing ladder. The housing shortfall is having noticeable effects. On 1 January 2025, 21.8 percent of people aged 25 to 29 were still living with their parents. Although the percentage of young adults living at home is rising, it remains low compared to the other EU countries (3rd out of 13). Over the past 20 years, the Netherlands has remained among the top 5 EU countries with the smallest proportion of young adults still living at home. The figure is even lower in Finland and Sweden, but in countries such as Bulgaria, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain, more than half of young adults still live at home.

The number of homeless people per 10 thousand inhabitants increased by 7.1 percent in 2024 compared to 2023. In 2024, 30 out of every 10 thousand residents aged 18 to 64 were sleeping on the streets, in walk-in shelters or with family or friends. In 2025, 4.1 percent of the population were living in homes with too few rooms. This percentage is low compared to other EU countries.

Households with mortgages had an average mortgage debt of around 209 thousand euros in 2024, and that debt is increasing. Capital accrued for mortgage repayment through endowment policies and investment and savings mortgages have been partially deducted. As the value of owner-occupied homes continues to increase, the ratio of mortgage debt to home value is improving for homeowners under the age of 35. This loan-to-value-ratio expresses the risk of homeowners being left with a residual debt after selling their homes. There is a residual debt if the ratio is greater than 1. Owners below the age of 35, who are usually first-time buyers, are especially vulnerable. Although the loan-to-value-ratio for first-time buyers is trending downwards, in recent years it has increased slightly, to 0.62 in 2023 and 0.64 in 2024.

Outcomes concern the quality of the home and the perceived cost of housing. Housing quality is generally good in the Netherlands. Since measurements began in 2005, every year more than 80 percent of residents have reported that their homes have no serious defects, such as a leaking roof, rotting window frames or problems with damp walls, floors or foundations - with the exception of 2024, when the proportion fell to 76.3 percent from 84.6 percent in 2023. 2024 was a relatively wet year, which exacerbated problems with damp. In 2025, the proportion was back above 80 percent, but it had not yet reached its pre-2024 level.

In 2025, 8 percent of Dutch households - approximately 680 thousand households - reported that their housing costs were very difficult to manage. Until last year, the percentage was falling, but this downward trend has come to a halt. The Netherlands has been among the EU countries with the lowest perceived housing costs since measurements began in 2005 (1st in 2023).
In 2024, according to a provisional estimate by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), 6.1 percent of households had a low income combined with high energy costs and/or a poorly insulated home. This equates to approximately 510 thousand households.

Subjective assessment relates to how satisfied people are with their housing. In 2025, 86.5 percent of adults were satisfied. This puts the Netherlands towards the middle in terms of the EU (8th out of 27 countries).