A landlord in Amsterdam Earns 7000 Euros a month from a 122m2 townhouse

Ok, so in Amsterdam, there’s a bit of a kerfuffle over a landlord who god bless him, has been smart enough to buy a townhouse in the Pieter Calandlaan in Amsterdam Nieuw West and convert it into ten 8m2 rooms which he rents out at 700 euros a month each. But surely, isn’t that what makes a successful entrepreneur, the ability to see an opportunity and to grasp it?

“The entrepreneur is essentially a visualizer and actualizer. He can visualize something, and when he visualizes it he sees exactly how to make it happen.” — Robert L. Schwartz

Entrepreneur in action the glass half full and half empty views

How you view this latest development in the Amsterdam housing market might depend on whether you’re a ‘glass is half full’ type of person or not.

8m2 equals 9.27 feet. An example is shown below. (Not one of the actual rooms)

8m2 room

Just enough room to swing a mouse

Glass half-full view

  • It’s difficult to find affordable places to live in Amsterdam, at least someone is doing something about it
  • It’s difficult to make friends in Amsterdam, at least the renters of the rooms will have nine other people to socialise with
  • He’s a great entrepreneur, where others saw a 122m2 townhouse he visualized and actualized 10 rooms
  • It’s not illegal, cheeky, but not illegal apparently, what’s the problem?
  • At least you won’t have to hire a cleaner.
  • The gentrification of Amsterdam Nieuw West will bring great benefits to the area. Do you know how far one has to travel with a bakfiets in Nieuw West before finding somewhere serving pumpkin spiced latte or lactose-free vegan chicken mashed avocado on gluten-free bread?
Dutch bakfiets or cargo bike

First came the bakfiets, then Starbucks, Jeroen and the Juice, SLA etc, etc

Glass half-empty view

  • Het kan echt niet gekker worden (whining in Dutch)
  • Expats are to blame for this, even if this particular Amsterdam landlord happens to be Dutch, it’s not his fault. Actually, I blame Meghan and Harry
  • Other (Dutch) property owners might start doing the same thing. It’s already really difficult for Dutch people to find somewhere to rent in Amsterdam and that kut Shallow Man calls us xenophobic when we put room ads stating ‘no internationals’. What’s wrong with wanting to live with your own (xenophobic) kind?

This is the new normal in Amsterdam

Amsterdam can be proud that it’s offering tiny overpriced accommodation in line with Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York, London and other global cities. Be proud. For all the people who aren’t happy about it. “If you don’t like it here…..”) 😉

tiny room to rent in Amsterdam

The new normal for room rentals in Amsterdam

 

 

If you happen to live in a room so small that even the mice feel claustrophobic, you might want to contact the Huurcommissie. Here a link to a page on Government.nl about rental regulations in the Netherlands.

No greedy landlords in Amsterdam were hurt during the writing of this post