I have discovered that you can only rent a place in Amsterdam if you know somebody. Incredibly, you can skip to the top of the corporate housing ladder if you know the previous tenant. They can recommend you to live there.

As well as this, if you live in a corporate housing apartment and you move overseas for a while, you get to choose who takes your apartment for a maximum of two years. Friend/family, whatever Then you can come back to your apartment two years later.

Then you have the rentals on the open market, which have a price limit determined by the government. The low prices mean that hundreds of people are all going for the same houses. Which means, you guessed it, you gotta be friends with the person renting.

I've been trying to find a place to rent but I have no hope. Meanwhile all the Dutch people I know find places "via-via", even through the corporate housing scheme, skipping their way up the waiting list.

Now, the politicians in the Netherlands have been scratching their heads as to why certain parts of the city are fully white, with other areas dominated by ethnic minorities. It seems bloody obvious to me. The white Dutch who have been here the longest are keeping all the best locations for themselves, family and friends, with the crumbs left over for me and everyone else. The system encourages it.

Yet when I turn on the TV I see politicians blaming the immigrants for living together in certain neighbourhoods. What the hell? Did they have a choice?

A reasonable alternative might be to rent OUTSIDE Amsterdam where these practices apparently do not exist or at least to a much lesser extent...

Well yeah, that was kind of my point, newcomers are forced to do that because the 'autochtonen' have all the desirable places sewn up in a cozy little cartel.

Seeing it from the homeowners perspective I would (will) do the same. As you do not make a profit ( or even a loss) on renting out your property it's best to find somebody you know or trust. You don't want your property to be thrashed.

I have an appartment in Amsterdam. 80% of the houses are Social Housing. The local government made law that protects tenant not the landlords. It is well meant as there is a huge housing shortage and in the past landlords were asking excessive rents. But that same well meant law makes it impossible for home owners in the Social Housing market to rent out their house without losing money on it. So people rent it out illegally or to friends who are willing to pay a bit extra under the table.

So yes, the government shouldn't be surprised as they created this situation. But are they genuinely surprised? I think not. Because a large percentage of the 80% in the Social Housing market is profiting from it (ie have low rents) and so will always keep voting for the party that makes this possible (PvdA).

O.K., in the private sector landlords can tend to be picky. Fair enough.

What I find weird is that even in the social housing sector people moving out of a house can "recommend" people to move in after them. And that's usually friends or family. So any newcomer, whether that be somebody from another country or another city, is immediately disadvantaged.

Really? So the waiting list doesn't count? That's nepotism. I wonder if it's even legal.

Hi .... just joined this site .... I'm interested in moving to Maastricht .... for end of this year or by spring of next year ... I'd aappreciate any advice for/from any Italians or Americans regards this subject ... I'm a dual citizen of Italy and US ... I love my Italia but my Italian is very very unsophisticated and "not enough" ... therefore, holland, I've always loved Holland, who can't love Holland? I'm an ex-city kid who adapted well to California life, retired seek simple peaceful lifestyle but must be near to an excellent acupuncturist ... another reason I'm moving to Holland ... it is difficult with my level of health negotiating Italy ... any news or info you might hellp me with would be greatly appreciated ... even if it's just saying "hello" ... Ciao.

As far as I know, the waiting list for "sociale woningen", in particular for "Ééngezinswoningen" still counts, at least in most cities and towns that I know. There are some problems for some categories of "starters" (= tenants renting for the first time) and even bigger problems for "doorstromers" ( tenants wanting to rent a larger apartment or a house) but the waiting list (10 to 15 years) is the rule.
However, two "external factors" influence the infamous list:
1) Urgency. When a family, for whatever reason, gets an "urgency statement" from their Gemeente, they receive an apartment by priority, overruling people waiting sometimes ten years or more! However, that's perfectly legal!
2) Families with many children need larger apartments than families without children. The few existing Apartments with 5 rooms and Ééngezinswoningen in the Social Sector aren given by priority to these families, 99% of which btw are "allochtonen" of course!

Hello,

what kind of advice are you looking for?
BTW, there are acupuncturists in Maastricht.
Ciao.

You don't have to go through corporate housing to rent in Amsterdam .. or anywhere else.

You can just contact a makelaar and .. rent.

See www.funda.nl and see all the houses/apartments for rent.

But then you have to rent of the Private housing market. In another thread in Housing i have the example of my own house which is in the Social Housing market. 40m2 Amsterdam Centre for 450 all-in. The private market (legal or not) would ask close if not more than 1000 euro.

The Private market is not within everyone's grasp.

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Hi Emilio,
Thanks for responding ... I humbly request any type of information regards 'just living' in Maastricht; i am unconventional and "picked" Maastricht as a town to live by opening a guidebook on Netherlands, to a page, like picking a card in the deck -- Maastricht came out -- AND I APPROVED IT, lol.
My difficulty is this: I have some health problems, minor in that I do not use western medical doctors for my condition, but need very much to have a very very good acupuncturist -- that's my specific question needing help in Maastricht; I did pull up 3 on google for Maastricht ... I am posting and hoping someone can give me more basic type of information on other necessities, such as a referral to any agencies for housings, and opinions, I love opinions. I would like to know what people think I should consider as a budget -- like prices for food, are utilities included in many rents, or how does that go and any other advice is appreciated as well, such as should I set up a place to live before getting there; or should I seek thruogh the internet a roommate service or an apartment service, does anyone recommend a hostel first, whatever. I am a citizen of Italia, but I have only lived short terms in Greece and Italia .... my command of either of those languages is extremely weak ... so because of my age and adpatability not so great anymore because of my health, I must try to make my move as "smooth" as possible not to suffer a health setback ... therefore I must simply move carefully I may never be able to be fluent in another language - but do you think I'll get a lot of scorn, or just enough scorn, I merely need to be aware.. I also have a small dog -- I have flown with my animals to Europe before and back, things being really bad now with airlines and america in turmoil, all is difficult from that end, but I do hope, and that leaves me at one of my other biggest concerns -- I am a sensitive type person and although I have been Bush's biggest detractor and left wing activist of sorts, I would at least like to be "armed" by others' information regards just HOW MUCH anti-american sentiment in Holland, or how bad it may affect me, can I not try to blend in with other immigrants? I'm not sure anymore .... I felt quite disheartened in Italia although I leave because of language and my own inability to learn quicker i.e., languages and assimilation to differences, major tough self realizations along with timing of world events as it ties into family matters is a"why" as to why I was not neatly situated in Europe by 2000 .... also a health matter -- as that health matter will remain with me, I have only need of a regular doctor for high blood pressure medicine only .... I plan to maintain my health with alternative medicine and plan to pay cash for that , hoping then that the Netherlands would look nicely upon me as I plan to be merely spending my retirement money -- not seeking jobs or planning on using their health system ... although I am greatful I have EU citizenship in case I really need medical help I could go back to Italy. I would appreciate all opinions. Thank you very much. I don't want to "boo-hoo" too hard, but its only been because of family obligations that I could not sink my life entirely in Europe .... sadly now that it's the "end of the empire" all, including my own family now, want me to go -- it angers me to a great degree, but I have to see the glass as half-full, not half-empty .... please "help" with any and all information you would be kind. I have a small fixed income, I am particularly interested in what one might think a monthly budget should be -- I have modest needs and plan to buy a bicycle.

I know that's the Private market (Vrijsector).

My point is that you said '.. you can only rent a place in Amsterdam if you ..' which is untrue. And ... in fact - non-eu newkomers can only rent legally via the vrigsector. So then it has to be within their grasp or they can't live here at all.

If you try the social housing ... you have to abide by all these rules - one of which says you have to have lived in that area for X number of years. When I first moved here in the Soest/Amersfoort area, it was 3 years and I'm sure most .. if not all other cities and towns have a simular rule.

So there are 3 ways to live here legally - (and if you are non-eu, you have to rent legally or they will find you out):

Social housing
Private rental
Buying

I discussed that in the third paragraph of my opening post.

Ouleviet has a way of completely missing the point.

**

There is something in what you say Bryan, it's more a case of who you know, rather than any notions of fairness. A possible way to get round it is to use what my ex used to call her '2 meter rule'. Which involved telling anyone who came within 2 meters of her that she was looking for a flat to let. Eventually someone knew someone who knew someone etc etc.

Or you could just get a better job...

Try advertising ;-)

And Purple Cow's ex's 2 meter rule

You're right. Even Dutch nationals have that problem. Except if they want to stay in their hometown. I think it's even hard to get a place in an unwated part of town like Bijlmer? in Amsterdam.

Is there a country with a better system?

But it's not all negative this issue as Dutchies all want to have an eengezinswoning with garden. If the government would have given in to this demand Holland would be one big eengezinswoning metropole.
Let them buid a few skyscrapers and when the population numbers will start declining in a few years from now, tear them down. Saves some of the the leftovers of nature in Holland.

Umm I don't see your point. Your third paragraph says:

' .. Then you have the rentals on the open market, which have a price limit determined by the government. The low prices mean that hundreds of people are all going for the same houses. Which means, you guessed it, you gotta be friends with the person renting. '

If by the 'open market' you mean the Vriijsector - these homes prices are not determined by the government but ... by the owner of the house. If he charges too high of a rent ... the govenment will come down on him but he's got to at least cover his mortgage payments or else - what would be the point? Of course, I have heard of people forced to charge less than their mortgage .. but that's another situation.

But ... these homes are not low priced at all, in fact these homes are fairly high priced as you already admitted. So there is no rush to compete for these homes.

There is no other legal 'open market' here so how could the government be involved regulating the pricing of illegal units?

The second option is social housing and to be clear ... my point is if you are going to rent via social housing - which is quite low cost ... the 'gotta be friends' thing only applies to people that have lived in the area X number of years whether they are Dutch or otherwise. You can't pass your social housing unit on to someone of your choosing that lives outside of the area in question - unless, again you are being illegal.

And of course, the 'gotta be friends'/the '2 meter rule' thing works if you are talking about illegal housing via a sublet or something ... which Dutch and EU people use often. But this would certainly not involve the Vrijsector because the owners of those homes are looking for someone to carry their mortgages . That's business.

But ... if you are Non Eu and move to The Netherlands, you have to rent legally. So you have to rent via the free sector (Vrijsector) which is fairly high priced. You can't rent via social housing because you have not been a resident of the area for X number of years yet.

This is the system that I had to follow when I first moved here. I could not rent via the social housing or illegally - as I'm Non-Eu and after a few months of renting, I bought a house. So all this renting by word of mouth ... is illegal and Non -Eu people get found out of they are renting illegally. Not good.

I always encourage new expats here to negotiate for a housing allowance. Many employers want to pay you exactly what they pay your Dutch colleagues ... but those colleagues are in 'The System' and you are not. They have the option of getting the low cost social housing for X years which helps them save toward buying a home so yes, they are situated. But for a Non EU person just off the plane, he will HAVE to rent via the vrijsector and pay those high rents because he has no other choice. He is at a great disadvantage.

(Of course, divorce, break ups etc throw a wrench in the whole housing thing even if you are Dutch or have been living here many years... but that's another story. )

That's why I said, there are 3 legal ways to live here.

social housing
vrijsector
buying a home

That's my point.