Rent a Home in Vlaardingen

Vlaardingen was built on herring. From the seventeenth century, its herring fleet grew to become the largest in the world. Dozens of luggers sailed from the Oude Haven (Old Harbor) onto the Nieuwe Maas, heading towards the North Sea. Warehouses lined the quays where fish was sorted, salted, and shipped. In 1964, the last nine luggers sailed out. The warehouses are still there. The harbor too. The herring, no longer.

Today, Vlaardingen has over 77,000 inhabitants (2026) and is undergoing its biggest transformation since the post-war reconstruction. Along the Nieuwe Maas, on former industrial land, the Rivierzone (River Zone) is emerging: a completely new district with 2,500 to 3,100 homes. The metro takes you to Rotterdam Blaak in twenty minutes. The A20 and A4 motorways are just around the corner. Anyone considering renting a home in Vlaardingen is entering a city that is cheaper than Rotterdam and Schiedam, more accessible than Maassluis, and will redefine itself significantly over the next ten years.

The Oude Haven and the city center: where the city began

The center of Vlaardingen revolves around the Oude Haven, the tidal creek that flowed into the Maas and where all fishing activity took place for centuries. Museum Vlaardingen stands on the quay, in the building where the fishing past was once documented. Around the harbor are historic facades, herring warehouses, and renovated buildings that now house shops and restaurants.

Rental homes in the center are predominantly apartments and upper-floor dwellings. The buildings are compact, the streets narrow, and the character historic. Metro station Vlaardingen Centrum is within walking distance. It is the place in the city with the most atmosphere and the smallest offer. Whoever finds a home here lives in the place where Vlaardingen began to thrive.

Ambacht: the pre-war district with its own rhythm

Vlaardinger-Ambacht, built in the 1920s and 1930s, is Vlaardingen's oldest expansion district. Short rows of terraced houses with a repeating pattern, architectural accents on corners and roofs, and a green character that was designed in from the start. It is the type of neighborhood that was no longer built this way during the post-war reconstruction period: small-scale, with attention to detail.

The houses are more modest than what you find in the post-war districts. Smaller rooms, lower ceilings, narrow gardens. But the streetscape has a coherence that is missing in Babberspolder or the Westwijk. Ambacht is the district for those who prioritize character over square footage. Its location is central, the metro station is within cycling distance, and rental prices are lower than in the center.

Holy: two faces on the city's edge

Holy is the district that Vlaardingen built in the late 1960s on its northern side, bordering Schiedam and the Broekpolder recreational area. The district has two faces. Holy-Zuid (South) has high-rise buildings and social housing, an urban character and the dynamism that comes with it. Holy-Noord (North) is quieter, with single-family homes and detached houses on the city's edge, where the open polder landscape of Midden-Delfland begins.

The Zwanenpark, a new construction project on the former sports complex at Zwanensingel, will bring new homes to Holy in the coming years. Construction starts in early 2026, with completion around 2029. For tenants in Holy, the location is the biggest plus: the greenery of Broekpolder within walking distance, Midden-Delfland by bike, and the city center accessible by metro.

Babberspolder and Westwijk: post-war reconstruction with wide green strips

Babberspolder was built in the early 1950s and was largely completed by 1958. It is a typical post-war reconstruction district: alternating flats and low-rise buildings, intersected by wide green strips that separate the blocks. The urban plan reflects the post-war conviction that light, air, and space form the basis of good living.

The Westwijk, slightly older (planning in 1952), has a similar profile: gallery flats and terraced houses in strip development. The municipality is investing in the liveability of the Westwijk, which has required more attention than other parts of the city in recent years. Rental prices in both districts are among the lowest in Vlaardingen. These are districts without pretensions but with space and greenery, within cycling distance of the center and the metro.

The Rivierzone: three thousand homes where industry once stood

The biggest change in Vlaardingen is taking place along the Nieuwe Maas. The Rivierzone, a former industrial port area, is being transformed into a mixed-use district with 2,500 to 3,100 new homes. The project is divided into three areas: Eiland van Speyk (550 to 600 homes), District U, and New Haven. The first deliveries are expected around 2027.

District U combines panoramic apartments, lofts, and 144 mid-rental apartments. On the Eiland van Speyk, two residential towers with 144 social housing units will be built. The entire project changes the relationship between Vlaardingen and the river: where for decades industry obscured the water from view, a district is now emerging that faces the Maas. For home seekers who want to live in Vlaardingen in a few years, the Rivierzone is the most relevant project to follow.