The late Dutch author and Holocaust survivor Marga Minco once wrote about an empty house in Amsterdam where she and other artists hid at the end of the second world war. Last month, that same house was occupied by a new generation of squatters. In Amsterdam’s overcrowded and overpriced housing market, where homes cost more per square metre than in London, squatting has returned.
It reflects a deep crisis marked by growing anger over inequality. Tax breaks for homeowners, who make up more than half the population, come at the expense of tenants. The return of squatting signals public frustration ahead of the 29 October election.
In June, riot police cleared a squatted property in De Pijp that had stood empty for over two years. A few days later, police evicted squatters from another house on Plantage Kerklaan. Tensions rise as the number of property “millionaires” grows, while young people face soaring rents, scarce housing, and long commutes. “It’s only getting harder,” says Maaike Krom, head of the Dutch student union, noting the toll on students’ mental health and future prospects.
The Netherlands’ generous tax breaks for homeowners are seen as a key driver of inflated prices, with the country carrying the highest mortgage debt-to-GDP ratio in the EU. Although squatting was criminalised after the violent Vondelstraat riots of 1980, today police raids on squatters have again become a regular occurrence.