Renting a Home in Delfshaven, Rotterdam

Delfshaven is located west of the city center, between Coolhaven and the A20. It is one of the few parts of Rotterdam where the pre-war city is still intact. The Voorhaven, the Achterhaven, the Pilgrim Fathers Church from 1417: this part of the city already existed when the Pilgrim Fathers departed for America in 1620. The rest of Delfshaven was built between 1900 and 1940, with wide canals, porch houses, and mansions along Mathenesserlaan and Heemraadssingel. Renting an apartment in Delfshaven means living in a neighborhood with more history than any other part of Rotterdam. The district has approximately 77,000 inhabitants (2025), and 72% of the homes are rental properties.

Historic Delfshaven: the Voorhaven and the Aelbrechtskolk

Historic Delfshaven is the part everyone knows from photographs. The Voorhaven and Achterhaven are canal quays with seventeenth-century warehouses, stepped gables, and clinker paving. The Aelbrechtskolk is a small canal with terraces, galleries, and the City Brewery De Pelgrim. The Pilgrim Fathers Church, also known as the Old Church, is located on the water. The corn mill De Distilleerketel is still turning there.

This is the Rotterdam that was not bombed. The scale is small, the atmosphere is village-like. It is more reminiscent of Leiden or Delft than of the city surrounding it. Rental homes in this part are scarce. What does become available are apartments in monumental buildings. Rental prices here are higher than in the rest of Delfshaven. But it is one of the few places in Rotterdam where you can live in a seventeenth-century building on the water.

Middelland and Nieuwe Westen: the Canals and City Avenues

Middelland and Nieuwe Westen are the two largest neighborhoods in Delfshaven, together accounting for over 30,000 residents. The street plan dates from the early twentieth century, designed by city architect Gerrit de Jongh. Wide avenues for notables, narrower streets for laborers. That structure still exists.

Heemraadssingel is the most beautiful avenue. Wide, with a waterway in the middle, rows of trees on both sides, and stately mansions with upper floors. Mathenesserlaan runs parallel to it. Claes de Vrieselaan connects the two. These are the streets where renters find larger homes: three or four rooms, high ceilings, bay windows. Nieuwe Westen has a similar layout but is more compact. Here, homes are smaller, and rents are lower.

Middelland is the most expensive neighborhood in Delfshaven. WOZ (property valuation) values here have risen by 168% in ten years (2025). Nieuwe Westen follows with an increase of 180%. Both neighborhoods are popular with starters and young professionals who want to avoid city center prices but do not want to live outside the city.

Spangen, Bospolder, and Tussendijken

The northern neighborhoods of Delfshaven have a different character. Spangen was built in the 1920s, with a symmetrical street plan around Het Kasteel, the stadium of Sparta Rotterdam. The district has a turbulent past but has been significantly revamped in recent years. Le Medi, an award-winning new development from 2008 in a Mediterranean style, symbolizes this change.

Bospolder and Tussendijken are located on Schiedamseweg, the shopping street connecting the two neighborhoods. Workers' homes from the 1910s and 1920s, partly renovated after the war. The population is young and diverse. Rental prices are the lowest in Delfshaven. For renters looking for an affordable apartment close to the city center, these neighborhoods are worth considering. The municipality is investing in greening, housing improvements, and new facilities.

De Nieuwe Binnenweg and Heemraadsplein

De Nieuwe Binnenweg is Delfshaven's main shopping street. Catering, specialty shops, vintage, barbers, Turkish bakeries, Surinamese takeaways. The street runs from the city center deep into the district and reflects the diversity of the borough. Not a slick chain store but a street where every building is different.

Heemraadsplein is the central square of Middelland. Weekly market, terraces in summer, a playground. Schiedamseweg serves Bospolder and Tussendijken with supermarkets and local amenities. On the edge of the district are Het Park and the Euromast. Het Park is one of Rotterdam's oldest city parks, laid out in the nineteenth century, with views of the Maas. The Euromast, 185 meters high, stands on the northern edge.

Porch Houses and Pre-War Upper Floors

59% of the homes in Delfshaven date from before 1945. This is reflected in the offerings: upper floors in mansions along the canals, porch houses in the side streets, apartment floors above shops on Nieuwe Binnenweg. There are also modern new builds, along Coolhaven and at the Dakpark (Roof Park) on Vierhavenstraat. That roof park, opened in 2013, is the largest roof park in Europe and is located atop a shopping center.

The vast majority of offerings consist of apartments. Ground-level homes are scarce. Those looking for space should look at the upper floors on Heemraadssingel or Mathenesserlaan. Those seeking compact and affordable options will find them in Bospolder or Tussendijken. The spread in rental prices within the district is wide.

Metro Delfshaven and Cycling to the Center

Metro station Delfshaven is on lines A and B, towards Schiedam and Rotterdam Central. Marconiplein station is on the northwest side. Trams 4 and 8 run via Mathenesserlaan to the city center. Several bus lines stop along Schiedamseweg and Nieuwe Binnenweg. The A20 is reachable within five minutes by car. Parking is paid throughout the district.

Rotterdam Central is reachable by bike in fifteen minutes. The city center is ten minutes away. The Erasmus Bridge and Kop van Zuid are on the other side of the Maas but are easily accessible via Het Park and Westzeedijk. Delfshaven is not a suburban area. It is nestled between the city center and the highway, with good connections to both sides.

The rental market in Delfshaven is varied. From monumental upper floors on the canals to compact porch houses in Bospolder. The neighborhood attracts starters, students, and young professionals looking for space and character without paying city center prices. Respond quickly to homes in Middelland and Nieuwe Westen. Look to Spangen and Bospolder for the lowest entry prices.