Policies for homelessness

Openresearch editorial board

Inadequate social security. A shortage of affordable housing. How does Amsterdam tackle these causes of homelessness?


The Netherlands has a housing crisis. There are too few affordable homes throughout the country, but especially in the big cities. In addition, the social security of a large group of people is under pressure and they are experiencing financial problems.

Inadequate social security and a shortage of affordable housing lead to an increase in homelessness and a greater need for (social) shelter. Nationally this concerns at least 32,000 people. In Amsterdam alone, around 2,500 people report being economically homeless every year, more than 600 vulnerable people are on a waiting list for social shelter and sheltered housing and another 4,500 people use one of these Services. We know that this is an underestimate of the actual number of people without a permanent place of residence. Partly because the number of homeless EU citizens and undocumented people living in the city is not known.

In Amsterdam we are trying to combat this housing crisis and strengthen social security by working on more affordable housing in the Amsterdam Public Housing Approach and by giving residents more security about their income more quickly through the upcoming Subsistence Security Agenda. In this collection you will find policy documents about the national approach to homelessness and how this happens in Amsterdam.