Municipalities across the Netherlands are confronting a growing shortfall of suitable rental housing for large asylum‑seeker families, with many households comprising nine members or more struggling to find appropriate accommodation.
Under Dutch law, local governments must assist status‑holder refugees and their accompanying family members in securing a rental home. In practice, the surge in “large” families—defined as households with six or more members—has made placement increasingly difficult. A recent survey of the five largest and eight medium‑sized municipalities revealed that more than 170 such families are on waiting lists for social‑rental housing.
In Delft, for example, several families of seven or more persons are awaiting a unit, including one household of nine members. The city has turned to other municipalities, the province, the Dutch Association of Municipalities (VNG) and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) for advice and support.
Other cities face similar pressures. The Hague alone reports 19 families with nine or more status‑holder members, while Zwolle is dealing with a household of 16. Similar backlogs exist in Maastricht, Groningen, Eindhoven and Leeuwarden, where multiple families of seven or more persons are also on the waiting list.
Municipalities have begun experimenting with interim solutions to bridge the gap between demand and supply. Some have paired two families in a single dwelling, repurposed vacant church buildings as temporary housing, offered rent reductions to attract larger private‑sector homes, or created “double‑housing” arrangements. These measures aim to create immediate space but encounter practical and legal hurdles, such as overcrowding concerns, safety regulations and budgetary strain.
According to the latest figures, local authorities managed to house 165 large families last year, yet the influx of “nareizigers” – family reunification applicants – remains high. Approximately 53,000 applicants are waiting abroad for a green light from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), and the approval rate for such requests stands at roughly 87%.
The shortage of appropriately sized homes is putting pressure on municipal housing budgets and highlights a broader challenge for the Dutch social‑rental sector, which is already strained by limited supply of spacious units. The situation underscores the need for coordinated national investment and policy adjustments to accommodate growing family sizes among refugees and their relatives.
For further details, see the original reports from Hart van Nederland, GeenStijl, Headliner and De Telegraaf.
