Social Housing in the Netherlands: How It Really Works and How Long You Will Wait

Almost everyone who moves to the Netherlands hears this advice in the first week: "Register for social housing, it is much cheaper." The advice is good, but it is only half of the story. A social home really is cheap. The problem is the waiting list. In Utrecht, people who get a social home have waited almost twelve years on average.

This guide explains how the system really works: who can get a social home, where to register, how long you wait in your city, why urgency usually does not help, and what changes if you are in the Netherlands under temporary protection from Ukraine. At the end, you will find what you can do while you wait.

Facts checked on 15 October 2026. Rules and amounts are for 2026, unless we say otherwise.

What is social housing

A social rental home (sociale huurwoning) is a home with a rent of no more than €932.93 a month in 2026. Almost all of these homes belong to housing corporations (woningcorporaties). These are landlords that do not work for profit. Their job is to give homes to people with lower incomes.

There are many of these homes. On 1 January 2025, corporations owned about 2.33 million homes. That is two out of every three rental homes in the country. But people almost never move out, because the rent is much lower than on the private market. So very few homes become free, and many people wait for each one.

Who can get a social home

The basic rules are the same in the whole country. Each region adds its own rules. In short, you need:

• To be 18 or older to react to homes. Some portals let you register earlier.
• The right to live in the Netherlands. Most regions ask for Dutch or EU nationality, or a valid residence permit. Temporary protection works differently. We explain this below.
• An income below the limit. In 2026, corporations give most homes to households that earn up to €51,537 a year (one person) or €56,910 (two or more people). A small part of the homes, 7.5% or up to 15% in some places, can go to people who earn more.

If your income is low, the corporation must offer you a home you can pay for. In 2026, this means: households that earn up to €29,400 (one person) or €39,925 (two or more) mostly get homes with a rent up to €713.02 for one or two people, or €764.14 for three or more.

How you get a home

There is no single waiting list for the whole country. The country is split into regions. Each region has one website where all its corporations put their free homes. You register on that website and pay a small fee. From that day, your registration time starts.

Every week, new homes appear on the website. You react to the homes you like. When the reaction time ends, the website puts everyone who reacted in order. How it does this depends on the home:

• Registration time (inschrijfduur). Most homes go to the person who has been registered the longest. This is why people say "register as early as possible". You cannot get this time back later.
• Search time (zoektijd). Some regions also count how long you have been reacting to homes. In the Amsterdam region, you get 1 search point for every month in which you react at least 4 times. You lose 1 point for every month without reactions.
• Lottery (loting). Some homes go to a random person from everyone who reacted. Here, a person who registered yesterday has the same chance as a person who has waited ten years.
• First come, first served. Homes that nobody wanted, often in less popular places, go to the first person who reacts. Rotterdam calls this DirectKans.
• Urgency (urgentie). People in a serious emergency go first. We explain this below, because it works differently than most people think.

What this means for you: if you have just registered, lottery homes and first-come homes are your only real chance in the next few years. There are not many of them. In 2024, about 8% of all social homes in the country went by lottery. In a lottery, your registration time does not matter, so a new person has the same chance per home as everyone else. But many people react to these homes. In most regions with a lottery, the people who won a home in 2024 had been registered for 2 to 4 years on average. On the normal waiting list, it took more than 6 years in 21 of 32 regions. React to every one of these homes that you like.

How long you really wait

Every region counts waiting time in its own way, so you cannot compare the numbers below directly. But they show you roughly how long it takes.

City or region	Usual wait	How it is counted	Year
Utrecht	11.7 years	Average	2025
Amsterdam	9.8 years	Average	2024
Eindhoven region	8.6 years	Average	2025
Groningen	7.4 years	Average	2024
The Hague	7 years	Middle value	2025
Rotterdam	2.5 years	Middle value, with lottery	2025

Each number shows how long people who got a home had been on the list. "Middle value" means half of the people waited less and half waited more. Rotterdam looks fast because its number includes all ways to get a home, also lottery and first come, first served, and Rotterdam gives many homes that way. People who got a home there through registration time only had waited more than 5 years. The lottery is exactly the way that works for newcomers.

Registration time is not the same as the time you spend actively looking. In Amsterdam, people who got a home in 2024 had been registered for 8.5 years on average. They had been reacting to homes for 5.2 of those years.

Where to register

Find your region and register there. Not sure which region your city is in? The new website socialehuurwoning.nl (started in October 2026) shows you the right website.

Region	Website	To register	Every year
Amsterdam and surroundings	amsterdam.mijndak.nl	€50	€9
Utrecht and surroundings	utrecht.mijndak.nl	€17.50	€7
Rotterdam region	woonnetrijnmond.nl	€15	€10
The Hague, Delft, Zoetermeer	woonnet-haaglanden.nl	nothing	about €14
Leiden region	hureninhollandrijnland.nl	€7.50	€7.50
Eindhoven region	wooniezie.nl	free	free
Arnhem and Nijmegen	entree.nu	free	free
Province of Groningen	groningenhuurt.mijndak.nl	€19	€10
Breda and West Brabant	klikvoorwonen.nl	about €10	about €10

Fees as shown by the websites and their corporations in 2025 and 2026. Check the current amount on the website before you pay.

Two things people often find out too late:

• Pay the yearly fee on time. If you forget it, you can lose all the time you have built up. In the Leiden region, since 1 September 2026, one late payment ends your registration at once.
• Your registration only counts in its own region. Years in Utrecht do not help you in Rotterdam. If you might move, register in both.

Urgency is not a quick way in

Many newcomers hope to get urgency. This almost never works. Urgency is for emergencies that you could not stop and cannot fix yourself. For example: a serious health problem, leaving a women's shelter, or your home being torn down. Each municipality makes its own rules.

These things usually do not count as urgent:

• you have just arrived and have nowhere to live;
• you live with friends or family, rent from another tenant, or have a temporary contract;
• your home is too small;
• you cannot find a home on the private market.

The rules are strict. In Amsterdam, for example, you must have lived in the city for at least four years without a break. Amsterdam also says no to people who moved there without arranging a place to live first. Utrecht asks for at least one year of living in the region. In Rotterdam, applying costs €35, or €85 if a doctor needs to check your situation. Rotterdam also warns against companies that ask money to get you urgency. The city does not work with them.

If you do get urgency, you go first for a limited time, usually six months. You do not get a home right away.

A new law started on 1 July 2026. It says that every municipality must have urgency rules by 1 January 2028, with fixed groups, for example people leaving a shelter or a care home. The law does not make urgency easier for people who just cannot find a home.

Social housing for Ukrainians with temporary protection

Readers who write to us in Russian and Ukrainian ask this question the most. The honest answer: it depends on where you live.

What the law says. Dutch housing law does not ask for a residence permit to rent a social home. So people with temporary protection may rent one. But some municipalities have their own housing rules (huisvestingsverordening). There, you also need a housing permit (huisvestingsvergunning) for a social home. People with temporary protection cannot get this permit, because the law does not name them as a group that can get it. A bit more than half of all Dutch municipalities have such rules.

That is why you see different stories on TikTok. Where the municipality asks for the permit, you cannot get a social home. Where it does not, the corporation decides itself, and some corporations do rent to Ukrainians.

What the regions say. No website says clearly that it rents social homes to people with temporary protection. But some regions are clearly closed, and in some regions it can be possible:

Region	What it says
Amsterdam region	You can register, but people with temporary protection cannot get social homes or mid-rent homes with a fixed maximum rent. That means any home with up to 186 WWS points. Since 1 July 2025, the city asks for a housing permit for these homes from private landlords too
The Hague and Zoetermeer	You need a housing permit for every home with up to 186 WWS points, from corporations and from private landlords. So people with temporary protection cannot rent these homes
Utrecht	You need a housing permit for social homes and for mid-rent homes built after 2020
Limburg: Venlo and Venray	Since 1 July 2026, you need a housing permit for every social home of a corporation
Limburg: Maastricht, Roermond, Sittard-Geleen and others	You do not need a housing permit for social homes (in Heerlen, Kerkrade and Brunssum only in some neighbourhoods), so the corporations decide. Thuis in Limburg asks for "a valid residence permit" when you register, so ask if your document is accepted
Arnhem and Nijmegen (Entree)	People from Ukraine with temporary protection cannot rent a social home in this region
Amersfoort region	"With a temporary residence status you cannot rent a social home", but register early to build up waiting time
Eindhoven region (Wooniezie)	You only need a housing permit if you have urgency. Other homes follow the corporations' own rules, and the municipality tells Ukrainians to register on Wooniezie

Checked on 15 October 2026 on the websites, the municipal pages and the housing rules of Amsterdam, The Hague, Zoetermeer, Utrecht, Eindhoven and the larger Limburg municipalities.

Most other websites only ask for "a valid residence status" and say nothing more. So ask the corporation or your municipality before you pay a fee.

"We got a flat from the municipality". Many Ukrainians live in their own flat that belongs to a corporation, but the municipality arranged it as shelter. Then you usually sign a user agreement (gebruiksovereenkomst), not a rental contract. It feels like your own home, but by law it is still municipal shelter. You cannot get rent benefit for it.

What most people do. In a 2025 survey of Ukrainians in the Netherlands, 69% lived in municipal shelter, 16% rented or bought a home themselves (10% in 2023), 4% lived with a host family and 2% lived in housing from their employer. You may rent on the private market. The exception is mid-rent homes with up to 186 WWS points in Amsterdam, The Hague and Zoetermeer: these also need the permit. With a rental contract and registration at your address, you can get rent benefit (huurtoeslag) under the same rules as everyone else. You do not need a residence permit for it.

Shelter is not free if you work. Adults who work and live in municipal shelter pay up to €244.22 a month per person (no more than €488.44 per household). When you pay, and from which income, depends on the municipality. Utrecht, for example, only asks for it if your income is more than 125% of the living allowance.

What happens next. Temporary protection now lasts until 4 March 2028. The news from 2025 about shelters closing in March 2027 is old. In June 2026, the government named three options for after that date: help for people who want to go back, normal residence permits (mostly through work), and a temporary "transition document" for people who need a backup. The housing ministry says that with such a residence permit, you would have the same options as other residents, also a housing permit. This law is still being written, so nothing is final yet.

What to do now:

• If your region's website lets you register, do it now. Your registration time starts on the day you register, and it may help later when your status changes.
• Where the corporations decide themselves, look for lottery homes. Your registration time does not count there. The municipality of Eindhoven, on its page for Ukrainians, sends people to Wooniezie, says that the normal waiting list takes 7 to 11 years, and names the lottery as the other way to get a home.
• Do not expect social housing to solve your problem in the next few years. Look for rooms and cheaper homes on the private market, also outside the big cities.
• Make sure you are registered in the BRP at your address. Huurtoeslag and most other help depend on it.
• Be careful with offers of "guaranteed social housing" or paid help to get urgency. Rotterdam, for example, warns that it does not work with such companies.

Middenhuur: homes between social and expensive

Between social housing and the expensive free market, there is a middle group of homes: middenhuur. Since 1 July 2024, a law (Wet betaalbare huur) sets a maximum rent for homes with 144 to 186 WWS points. In 2026, this means a rent between €932.93 and €1,228.07 a month, for new contracts.

Most of these homes do not go through the social housing waiting lists. So they usually go to the person who reacts first and meets the landlord's rules.

Some cities have an extra rule: you need a housing permit from the municipality before you move in, even if the landlord is a private person. Amsterdam asks for it for every home with up to 186 WWS points since 1 July 2025. The Hague and Zoetermeer ask for it since July 2023. Utrecht only asks for it for mid-rent homes built after 2020. To get the permit, your income must be below a limit: in 2026 the national limit is €70,149 a year for one person and €93,531 for two or more, and a city can set its own. Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Leiden and Delft do not have this rule.

Do you think the landlord asks more than the points allow? Then you can ask the Huurcommissie to check the rent. The landlord must follow its decision, and the lower rent counts from the start of your contract. Findify estimates the WWS points and the maximum legal rent of a listing, so you can see at once if the rent is too high.

What to do while you wait

Register for social housing today. It does not cost much, and every month counts. But plan as if your next home will come from somewhere else, because for most people it will.

The private market is easier than it looks, especially if you look outside the biggest cities and the most popular websites. In the last 30 days, Findify found 1,763 rooms and 1,113 apartments, studios and houses with a rent at or below the social housing limit of €933, and 1,250 more homes between €933 and €1,228. They come from hundreds of websites, from Funda and Pararius to small local agencies.

Since 2026, you can also get rent benefit (huurtoeslag) for a home with any rent, if your income and savings are low enough. It is counted on the rent up to €932.93. You get nothing for the part of the rent above that.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the waiting list for social housing in the Netherlands? It depends on the region. People who got a home in 2025 had been registered for about 12 years in Utrecht, about 7 years in The Hague and almost 9 years in the Eindhoven region. In Amsterdam, the average was almost 10 years in 2024. Rotterdam is faster, because it gives many homes by lottery.

Can I register for social housing if I just arrived? Usually yes, if you are 18 and have the right to live in the Netherlands. Your registration time starts on the day you register, so do it as early as possible.

What is the maximum rent of a social home in 2026? €932.93 a month. A home with a higher rent is middenhuur (up to €1,228.07 for new contracts) or free market.

What is the income limit for social housing in 2026? Corporations give most homes to households that earn up to €51,537 a year (one person) or €56,910 (two or more people).

Can I get urgency because I cannot find a home? No. Urgency is for serious emergencies that you could not stop and cannot fix yourself. Not finding a home, living with friends or having a temporary contract does not count.

Can Ukrainians with temporary protection get social housing? It depends on the municipality. Where the local rules ask for a housing permit for social homes, people with temporary protection cannot get one. In other places, the corporations decide themselves.

Can I get rent benefit (huurtoeslag)? Yes, if you rent a home with its own front door, kitchen and toilet, have a rental contract, are registered at that address, and your income and savings are low enough. Since 2026 there is no maximum rent, but the benefit is only counted on the rent up to €932.93.

Is there free housing for Ukrainians in the Netherlands? No. The only housing arranged for people with temporary protection is municipal shelter, and adults who work pay a monthly amount for it. Anyone who rents a home pays rent and can ask for huurtoeslag.