Dutch shopping street vacancy rates vary significantly by location tier and city, but as of 2026, prime A1 high streets in major Dutch cities maintain low vacancy — often below 5% — while secondary and peripheral retail streets face structurally higher vacancy, sometimes exceeding 15 to 20%. The overall Dutch retail vacancy picture is not uniform: it is a market of extremes where location quality determines almost everything. The sections below break down where vacancy concentrates, which formats are most affected, and what this means for investors evaluating Dutch retail real estate.
How does the Dutch vacancy rate compare across A1, A2, and B-locations?
In the Netherlands, vacancy rates differ sharply across location tiers. A1 locations — the prime pitches on the highest-footfall stretches of major shopping streets — typically maintain vacancy below 5%, reflecting strong tenant demand and limited supply. A2 locations show moderately higher vacancy, often in the 5 to 10% range, while B-locations and secondary streets can face vacancy rates well above 15%, with some peripheral retail areas structurally struggling to attract tenants at all.
This polarisation is one of the defining characteristics of the Dutch retail real estate market. The gap between an A1 and a B-location is not just a matter of rent level — it reflects fundamentally different demand dynamics, footfall patterns, and tenant quality. Retailers with expansion ambitions target A1 pitches precisely because consumer traffic is concentrated there. B-locations, by contrast, often compete with out-of-town retail parks and e-commerce for a shrinking pool of tenants.
For investors, this means that vacancy rate data at the city or national level can be misleading. A city may report an average vacancy of 8%, but within that average, its A1 street is essentially fully let while its secondary streets drag the number up. Understanding Dutch retail location intelligence at the street and pitch level — not just the city level — is what separates informed investment decisions from costly mistakes.
Which Dutch cities have the highest and lowest vacancy rates?
Among major Dutch cities, Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Den Haag consistently record the lowest vacancy rates on their prime shopping streets, driven by strong consumer spending, high footfall, and sustained retailer demand. Cities with weaker economic profiles or oversupplied retail stock — including some mid-sized cities in the north and east of the Netherlands — face structurally higher vacancy, particularly outside their core retail zones.
Amsterdam’s prime streets, including the Kalverstraat and the PC Hooftstraat, remain among the most sought-after retail locations in the country, with vacancy on the best pitches close to zero. Rotterdam’s Lijnbaan and Koopgoot areas perform strongly but show more sensitivity to tenant mix changes. Eindhoven and Groningen have invested significantly in their city centres and maintain competitive vacancy levels on their core streets, though secondary areas face greater pressure.
Smaller regional centres present a more mixed picture. Where catchment populations are limited and online retail has eroded footfall, vacancy on B-streets can be persistent and difficult to reverse. The Dutch market rewards concentration: cities and streets that attract the best retailers reinforce their own appeal, while weaker locations enter a cycle that is hard to break without active repositioning or repurposing of space.
Vacancy data at this level of granularity — by city, by street, by pitch — is exactly the kind of intelligence that retail investment advisory requires to be actionable. National averages tell investors very little about whether a specific asset is correctly priced.
What types of retail formats are driving vacancy on Dutch shopping streets?
Vacancy on Dutch high streets is disproportionately driven by the exit of mid-market fashion chains, electronics retailers, and department store formats. These categories have faced the most severe structural pressure from e-commerce, and their departure has left large floor plates that are difficult to relet to alternative tenants at comparable rents.
Mid-market fashion has been particularly affected. Several well-known chains have reduced their Dutch footprints or exited entirely, leaving behind units of 500 to 2,000 square metres that require significant investment to adapt for new uses. Electronics and media retail has experienced similar contraction, with large-format stores becoming harder to sustain in a market where online purchasing dominates.
Formats that are actively filling space include food and beverage operators, health and beauty retailers, and experience-oriented concepts. Supermarkets remain strong anchor tenants, particularly in neighbourhood and convenience formats. International retailers entering the Dutch market — especially in the premium and lifestyle segments — continue to target A1 pitches in Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Rotterdam, which helps sustain low vacancy in those locations while the pressure concentrates elsewhere.
The format-driven nature of Dutch retail vacancy matters for investors because it affects re-letting risk. A unit vacated by a mid-market fashion chain may require rent adjustment, reconfiguration, or repositioning before it attracts a new tenant. Assessing this risk accurately requires knowledge of which tenant categories are actively expanding and what they require from a location — the kind of live market intelligence that generalist advisors rarely possess.
How does huurprijsherziening affect vacancy levels on Dutch high streets?
Huurprijsherziening — the Dutch statutory market rent review process — can directly influence vacancy levels by triggering lease renegotiations that either stabilise or destabilise occupancy. When market rents have declined below contracted rents, tenants can initiate a rent review under Article 303 of the Dutch Civil Code, which may result in a court-determined rent reduction. If landlords resist and the gap is significant, tenants may choose not to renew, contributing to vacancy.
On Dutch high streets where market rents have softened — particularly on A2 and B-locations — the huurprijsherziening process creates a period of uncertainty. Landlords who have been slow to acknowledge market rent corrections sometimes face a choice between accepting a reduced rent or losing the tenant entirely. In practice, vacancies that result from failed rent negotiations are among the most avoidable, yet they remain common where landlords lack accurate market rent data.
Conversely, where contracted rents sit below market levels — a condition known as onderhuur — tenants have little incentive to leave and vacancy risk is low. The direction of the gap between contracted and market rent is therefore a critical variable when assessing vacancy risk for any specific asset.
KroesePaternotte operates the largest retail valuation practice in the Netherlands, with all major Dutch banks relying on its assessments. Its lease database extends back to 1984 and covers virtually the entire Dutch retail market, giving it the depth of data needed to determine whether a contracted rent is above or below market — and what the realistic outcome of a rent review would be. Investors evaluating assets with upcoming lease events should ensure they have access to this level of market rent substantiation before committing capital.
Should investors treat high street vacancy as a risk signal or a buying opportunity?
High street vacancy in the Netherlands should be treated as neither a blanket risk signal nor an automatic buying opportunity — the answer depends entirely on why the unit is vacant, where it sits in the location hierarchy, and what the realistic re-letting timeline and rent level look like. Vacancy in an A1 location with a strong catchment and active tenant demand is a very different proposition from vacancy on a structurally weakening B-street.
When vacancy signals genuine risk
Structural vacancy — where a unit has been empty for an extended period with no credible tenant interest — is a warning sign that market rent expectations are misaligned, the location has lost relevance, or the unit configuration no longer suits active tenant requirements. In these cases, the vacancy is a symptom of a deeper problem that a lower acquisition price alone will not resolve. Investors who buy on yield without understanding the re-letting fundamentals risk holding an asset that continues to decline in value.
When vacancy creates a buying opportunity
Temporary vacancy in a demonstrably strong location — where footfall data, nearby occupancy, and active leasing enquiries support the case — can create a genuine entry point. Vendors of vacant units are often motivated, and a buyer who can accurately assess re-letting potential and realistic market rent has an informational advantage. The key is having the leasing market intelligence to know whether demand is real and what terms a new tenant will actually accept.
This is where the combination of investment advisory and active leasing expertise becomes decisive. Retail leasing specialists who are simultaneously transacting in the market can tell an investor not just what the vacancy rate is, but which tenants are actively looking, what they are willing to pay, and how quickly a unit is likely to be relet. That is the difference between a data point and a defensible investment thesis.
For international investors evaluating Dutch retail real estate, the vacancy rate on a specific street or in a specific city is a starting point, not a conclusion. The Dutch market rewards precision. KroesePaternotte’s four decades of continuous involvement in Dutch retail — across leasing, valuations, and investment transactions — means its market intelligence reflects what is actually happening at the asset level, not just what macro reports suggest. That granularity is what makes the difference between buying well and buying blind in one of Europe’s most location-sensitive retail markets.
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