Strong investment appetite with €27 billion available, growing focus on impact investing
Investors are approaching the residential investment market with greater confidence in the coming years than in 2024. This is reflected in the amount of capital available for investments in the Dutch residential investment market over the next three years, which has increased to €22.9 billion—up 22% compared to 2024. An additional €4 billion is available for healthcare real estate, bringing total available capital to €27 billion.
Institutional investors in particular have embedded impact objectives in their long-term strategies and explicitly incorporate societal challenges such as affordability, population ageing, and care-suitable housing into their investment decisions.
Thijs Konijnendijk, Director Research & Data Intelligence at Capital Value: “It is positive news that Dutch institutional investors, in particular, are actively investing in affordable rental housing. Whether this available capital can actually be deployed over the next three years will depend, among other factors, on the stability of the investment climate, fiscal measures, interest rates, and the supply of new-build projects. Continued support for the investment climate and the development pipeline is essential if we are to reduce the housing shortage.”
Role of international investors smaller than ever
The Dutch residential investment market offered limited attractive investment opportunities for international investors in 2025. As a result, the share of international investors in total transaction volume declined to 7%, the lowest level on record. The long-term average share stands at 26%. It is also becoming increasingly clear that international investors are reducing their holdings in the Netherlands by selling to Dutch investors or to private buyers through individual unit sales. The stock of rental housing owned by international investors declined to just over 72,500 homes in 2025, down from approximately 80,000 rental homes in 2024.
International investors surveyed indicate that they would be willing to increase investments in Dutch rental housing, provided the investment climate improves. The absence of international investors from the Dutch market represents a missed opportunity. Historically, they have made an important contribution to the Dutch rental housing market, investing in large-scale new-build projects as well as developments targeting specific groups such as first-time renters and seniors.
More senior housing needed: 3.12 million elderly households by 2035
€4 billion is available for investments in healthcare real estate in the coming years, representing an increase of 42% compared to 2024. However, supply in this segment remains insufficient to meet the national ambition of delivering 30,000 care-suitable homes per year. In 2025, investors delivered 1,800 new care-suitable homes, representing just 6% of the annual target. Housing associations also add care-suitable homes each year. While figures for 2025 are not yet available, total annual additions in recent years did not exceed 4,000 homes.
Thijs Konijnendijk: “Municipalities play a key role in increasing supply by explicitly including care-suitable housing targets in new development plans. Enabling more seniors to move would provide a significant boost to mobility within the housing market.”
Feasibility of new-build projects under pressure
The financial feasibility of new-build projects delivering affordable rental housing is under increasing pressure. In 2025, 44% of surveyed developers converted rental housing programmes into owner-occupied housing. Parties are also increasingly citing grid congestion as a significant constraining factor.
Arjan Peerboom, CEO of Capital Value: “In recent years, substantial efforts have been made in project planning and development. For the coming years, significant pension fund capital is available in particular for the construction of affordable rental housing. The cabinet has an important responsibility to ensure that this capital can actually be deployed. We advise moving swiftly on fiscal optimisation measures for investors and housing associations as outlined in the coalition agreement, and to implement these measures as soon as possible. Only if government and market translate plans into action will it be possible to reach 100,000 building permits in 2026. In addition to institutional investors, international investors, private investors, and housing associations are all essential to delivering sufficient new rental housing over the long term. Only through joint efforts can the scale of the housing construction challenge be addressed.”
