Who Really Drives the Price Premium? Landlords, Makelaars, and the Vulnerability of Internationals on the Dutch Housing Market

This paper challenges the common narrative that internationals themselves are driving up Dutch housing costs. Drawing on the 2025 NVM <i>Internationals woningmarkt light</i> report, legal frameworks, and peer-reviewed research, I argue that the observed “foreigner premium” is not caused by expats bidding up rents and prices, but by landlords and brokers exploiting their vulnerable position.Through detailed analysis, I show how practices such as excessive deposit demands, discriminatory tenant selection, and funneling internationals into the most expensive segments systematically raise their housing costs. Data from Pararius, IND salary thresholds for highly skilled migrants, and municipal concentration figures illustrate how internationals are disproportionately steered into high-rent housing, while still representing only 1.6% of national purchases.The paper critiques the framing of the NVM report, highlights selective reporting that exaggerates internationals’ impact, and presents a policy agenda that targets landlord behavior, improves enforcement of existing law, and increases transparency. By re-focusing the debate on supply-side mechanisms, the paper calls for fairer housing discourse and reforms that protect both internationals and local renters