Name: Netherlands housing crisis fuels tension over refugee accommodation
Uploaded: 2025-10-26T16:17:11.642Z
Duration: 2 min 47 s
Description: A growing housing crisis in the Netherlands is forcing multiple generations to live under one roof, as rising prices and a shortage of affordable homes leave families with few options. Many blame newcomers and refugees for getting housing priority, while others argue that scapegoating ignores the deeper structural issues.

A growing housing crisis in the Netherlands is forcing multiple generations to live under one roof, as rising prices and a shortage of affordable homes leave families with few options. Many blame newcomers and refugees for getting housing priority, while others argue that scapegoating ignores the deeper structural issues.

Amsterdam

The Netherlands is experiencing a significant housing crisis, forcing many families to live together across generations due to a lack of available homes. Contributing factors include a privatized housing market, building restrictions, and an aging population, resulting in high prices and long waiting lists.

Efforts to address the shortage include ambitious plans to build new cities and the conversion of unused office space into residential units. However, the crisis has also led to public debate and resentment, with some residents blaming refugees for receiving housing priority. Around 10% of social housing is allocated to refugees, intensifying discussions about fairness and public responsibility.

Netherlands housing crisis fuels tension over refugee accommodation

Living with three generations under one roof in the Netherlands is unusual, but more and more people are forced to do this because there's a serious lack of houses. I'm here with Christa van Rees, who finds it increasingly hard to live with her daughter and two babies, failing for seven years to find her own place. She follows up every day to houses that become available, but there's always 400 or 500 others who also respond. I understand that everyone needs a home. But she also deserves her own place. An increasingly privatized housing market, building limitations and an aging population are seen as the main reasons for a lack of houses and skyrocketing prices. To create one million new houses, politicians are campaigning to build 10 new cities. Municipalities can't wait for this ambitious plan to materialize. They need new homes immediately. I'm meeting Gijs van Mals, a city councillor here in the city of Rijswijk, where they have found a much faster way. So this used to be an office building, 30,000 square meters of office space, and it's been empty for a few years. So we started a project to remodel it to 460 homes, which is what we're doing right now. In the Netherlands, there's 18 million square meters of empty real estate. I would say let's start there. The debate centers around who to blame and centers around scapegoat politics. So it's the migrants or it's the refugees. Whereas we think, no, it's been a neglect of the public responsibility. Christa does blame refugees. Participating in an election debate, she asked why refugees get priority. They come to our country and sometimes get a house within a year, while some people here have been waiting for 15 years. This is my apartment. Three years after he left Iraq, Dilshad got a 19-square-meter studio for rent. I sleep here, actually. Around 10% of social housing is provided to refugees. So how do you feel if refugees are being blamed for taking houses? The Netherlands people, they still work, they still go to school, they still have a place. I know it's hard. I know some of them, they still live with their parents. But I can't do anything, but you can still live. While groups are set up against each other in a scarce housing market, many wonder if a new government will be able to solve this crisis once and for all. Stap Vaassen, Algecira, in Rijswijk, the Netherlands.

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