Renting a Home in Presikhaaf, Arnhem

Plans for Presikhaaf were already drawn up in 1930. The crisis years and the war postponed construction. It wasn't until 1948 that the first spade hit the ground. What followed was a quarter-century of building. Porch apartments, terraced houses, gallery flats, and maisonettes. Each phase reflects the architectural fashion of that moment. The result is what local historians call an open-air museum of reconstruction. Renting a home in Presikhaaf means living in a district that showcases the post-war Dutch building history in miniature.

The district is divided into Presikhaaf-West and Presikhaaf-Oost, separated by the road Het Lange Water. Together, they have approximately 8,880 residents (2023). The population is mixed: 40% with a Dutch background, 49% with a non-Western migration background. It is one of Arnhem's most multicultural neighborhoods.

Presikhaaf I, II, and III

Construction happened in phases. Presikhaaf I and II, west of Het Lange Water, emerged in the late 1940s and 1950s. Repeating building blocks, strip development, the pattern of reconstruction. Presikhaaf II has largely been demolished and rebuilt: 82% of the homes date from after 2000. This creates a contrast. Next to a porch apartment from 1952 stands an energy-neutral apartment block from twenty years later.

Presikhaaf III, to the east, is the largest: 4,445 residents in 2,054 homes. Here stand the gallery flats from the mid-1960s, lower and with more public space between them than in the earlier phases. 99% of the homes are from before 2000. Renovation is ongoing, but the original character is best preserved here.

The housing stock is predominantly rental: 79 to 87% depending on the sub-district. The free sector is the smallest segment but is growing due to renovation and new construction. Presikhaaf II offers the most opportunities for a recently built apartment.

Presikhaaf Shopping Center

The shopping center opened in 1965 as one of the first indoor shopping centers in the Netherlands. Architect E.F. Groosman designed it, and the Philips pension funds financed the construction. After a major renovation around 2016, it became the first 'Full Service Center' in the Netherlands: shops, services, and healthcare under one roof. About eighty shops, indoor but bright, with free parking.

For tenants in Presikhaaf, the shopping center is the daily anchor. Supermarkets, drugstore, butcher, cheese shop, fishmonger. Everything within walking distance. It's the kind of amenity that reconstruction areas in other cities have often lost.

Accessibility and Location

Arnhem Presikhaaf Station serves the district with sprinter trains to Arnhem Centraal and towards Zutphen and Zevenaar. Arnhem Centraal is 1.7 kilometers away, a few minutes by train or ten minutes by bike. Bus line 5 connects Presikhaaf with the central station and Schuytgraaf.

The district is sandwiched between the Arnhem-Zutphen and Arnhem-Zevenaar railway lines. To the east, the A12 separates Presikhaaf from Velp. This location between infrastructure gives the district clear boundaries. You know when you're in it and when you're out. Presikhaaf Park, renovated in 2004, is the green heart of the district.

Renewal and Future

Presikhaaf is part of the national investment program Arnhem Oost, aimed at reducing social and spatial inequality. Demolition and new construction alternate. The Blok1 residential tower by GROUP A architects replaced a post-war residential block with a student housing tower. On Van Kinsbergenstraat, eight homes were rebuilt to BENG standard in 2025 after a fire in 2023.

The district will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2025. It is a neighborhood in motion. The original structure remains visible, but the offerings are changing. For tenants considering renting a home in Presikhaaf, this is the district with the most variation: from original reconstruction to recent new builds, from porch apartments to energy-neutral homes.

Rental homes in Presikhaaf become available more regularly than in the Burgemeesterswijk or Spijkerkwartier. The supply is larger, the turnover higher. That doesn't mean searching is easy. The free sector is a small part of the total. Set up alerts, respond quickly, and check whether the home is in the renovated or original part of the district. That makes a difference in construction quality and energy label.