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Dutch housing minister Stef Blok expects more cross-border investors will enter the Dutch residential sector after a string of major players stepped into the market in the last 18 months.

More new entrants will be attracted to the middle segment of the rental market, partly due to the government's liberalisation programme, Blok told PropertyEU's Netherlands Investment Briefing which was held at CBRE's London City offices on Monday.

Foreign capital will form joint ventures with local developers and investors, as well as with municipalities, he said, and the country's social housing corporations will put more of their non-rent cap apartments up for sale. However, the minister expects individual ticket sizes will be smaller than the recent sales of large portfolios to UK-based Round Hill and Patrizia Immobilien of Germany.

During the briefing the four largest Dutch cities - Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht - presented their main residential-led urban development projects to the 150-strong audience. Some 60% were non-Dutch investors.

Patrizia has already moved up the investment chain by signing a deal last year with The Hague to develop 150-200 new homes a year in the city.

Reluctant sellers
Blok said the housing corporations had for years competed with the private sector to develop apartments for middle-income tenants. As a result, the housing corporations became the 'go to people' for municipalities in relation to new projects. One of the government's recent regulatory reforms outlaws the housing corporations from developing rent-cap homes, thereby compelling municipalities to find private-sector partners instead.

However, one of main concerns expressed by foreign investors was that after an initial flurry of deals last year the supply of middle-income rental apartment portfolios from housing corporations has dried up.

Blok conceded that he can't force the housing corporations to sell the free-market homes they own. But the minister and other speakers said they expect sales will continue over the next few years, although portfolio sizes will likely be relatively small.