Tiny increase in social housing units allocated to refugees

The number of social housing units allocated to refugees barely increased in 2024, according to figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on Wednesday.

In 2024, just over 8 percent of all social housing units that became available were allocated to a household that included one or more refugees - asylum seekers whose applications were approved and who were granted residency permits for the Netherlands. That amounts to over 13,000 homes, roughly the same number as in 2023.

In 2024, 21 percent of all “starters” - people entering the housing market for the first time - were refugees. “That proportion has remained constant for a few years now,” CBS demographer Ruben van Gaalen told NOS. “However, compared to the more distant past, there is a noticeable increase. In 2018, for example, the figure was 9 percent - considerably lower.”

The proportion of social housing homes allocated to refugees has not kept pace with that growth. In 2018, about 9 percent of available social housing units were allocated to refugees, amounting to around 3,500 homes.

The proportion of social housing units allocated to refugees varies by region. Flevoland had the highest share in 2024, at 12 percent, followed by the Het Gooi en Vechtsreek region (11 percent) and Utrecht (10 percent). Delfzijl had the lowest share at less than 1 percent.

At the end of 2024, refugees lived in 2.4 percent of the 2.2 million social housing units in the Netherlands, compared to 2.2 percent in 2023.