Private landlords in The Hague sold 4,765 rental homes last year, making it harder to find a place to live for people who cannot afford to buy and do not qualify for social housing.
New figures from the national statistics office CBS show that private individuals were renting out 31,925 homes in the city at the start of 2026, 2,815 fewer than a year earlier.
Companies were down by 1,950 over the same period, to 22,540 homes on 1 January.
It was the third year in a row that private individuals in The Hague sold more rental homes than they bought, and landlords with three to ten properties sold particularly heavily.
Why landlords are selling
Private rentals often sit above the social housing limit, this year 933 euros a month, but higher taxes and the Affordable Rent Act, which caps excessive rents, have made letting much less attractive.
Housing minister Boekholt-O’Sullivan wants to loosen the rules for landlords from 2027.
The city counted 154,245 rental homes at the start of 2026, down from 157,315 a year earlier.
Housing corporations own 83,915 of them, up from 82,070 in 2021, and another 15,865 belong to other owners such as foundations.
