While owner-occupied homes with a good energy label yield more than those with a poor energy label, this does not apply to rental homes. This is what real estate advisor Colliers says on the basis of an investigation into rental transactions.
Colliers investigated the relationship between the rent and the energy label for 75,000 new leases in 2021 and 2022. For rental properties with labels A, B or C, the average rent is between 1357 and 1373 euros. And for homes labeled D, E, F or G, the average rent is actually higher, between 1440 and 1498 euros. Colliers researched rents in the private sector, so the research is not about social rental housing from housing corporations.
“Unlike owner-occupied homes, a good energy label on the rental market is therefore not rewarded, even in the current time with explosively increased energy costs,” says Colliers. According to the consultancy, this is due to the scarcity of rental properties, which means that home seekers have few alternatives.
“There is no urgency or financial incentive for landlords to make the rental property more sustainable, since this has no influence on the rentability and amount of the rent.”
Center or outskirts of town
Even if you look at the rent per square meter, rental properties with a good label remain somewhat cheaper than homes with a bad label. According to Colliers, this is because newer homes, with a high label, are often larger than older homes with a low label. And the larger a home, the less you pay per square meter.
Another factor is that poorly insulated, older homes are more often located in city centres. Newer, better insulated homes are located on the outskirts of a city. And rents are often higher for centrally located homes.
In Amsterdam, for example, it is clear to see that the rental properties with the worst labels F and G can mainly be found in the pre-war urban districts within the ring road, while in the new housing estate IJburg there are not a single house with F or G. Homes with label A can often be found at new-build locations, IJburg is full of them.
See below where the rental properties with an F and G label are located and swipe to see the A labels:
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NecklacesRented properties with label F or G -
Necklaces
The Woonbond, the representative of tenants, has been concerned for some time about poorly insulated rental properties. This winter, the union received many reports from people who have lost a lot of money on heating due to the high energy prices.
Vastgoed Belang, the association of private landlords, then said that landlords would like to modify more houses. But their homes are often old and therefore complicated to make sustainable. Landlords would also not have the financial room.
To enforce sustainability, Minister De Jonge wants to prohibit private landlords from renting out E/F/G homes from 2030 onwards. It has been agreed with housing associations that they will have made all E/F/G homes sustainable to a higher label by 2028.
- De Jonge: from 2030, no more renting out homes with a poor energy label
- More choice, expensive energy: home buyers are now really looking at energy labels
- Price difference between a house with a low or high energy label can easily reach half a ton
