Smallepad e.o., Amersfoort

Living in Smallepad e.o.

Smallepad e.o. is densely built and genuinely urban, and this is apartment territory: only about 1 in 100 homes is a house.

At 5,337 residents per km² the buurt is busy without being packed.

Amersfoort sits at the rail crossroads of the Netherlands, which makes it a favorite for couples commuting in different directions. A well-preserved medieval center is ringed by thoughtfully planned newer districts like Vathorst.

The housing market in Smallepad e.o.

At €233,000 average WOZ value, Smallepad e.o. ranks 123 out of 124 Amersfoort neighborhoods on price — 46% cheaper than most of the city, leaving room in the budget that pricier neighborhoods would swallow. For scale: Amersfoort's cheapest buurt averages €97,000 and its priciest €1,127,000, so Smallepad e.o. sits among the city's more affordable ones.

The direction of the market: between 2018 and 2025 the average WOZ value here rose from €74,000 to €233,000, up 215% — faster than the city as a whole (+83%). WOZ values lag the market by about a year, but the trend itself is reliable.

Here is the catch for buyers: only 0% of homes are owner-occupied. Few homes come up for sale, so when one does, expect competition and act fast on viewings. The upside of the same number: neighborhoods with a big rental base tend to feel lively and transient rather than settled — decide which you want before you fall for a listing.

Who lives here

Demographically, Smallepad e.o. is a young-adult neighborhood — the 25-to-45 group outnumbers everyone else (75% of its 415 residents), followed by 15-to-25 year olds at 16%. More than half of all households (76%) are single-person — this is a neighborhood of independents, not minivans. The average household counts 1.2 people.

As for who your neighbors would be: incomes lean modest — 64% of households are among the country's lower earners.

Daily errands, coffee and dinner

Day to day: groceries are a non-issue — 4 large supermarkets within a kilometer; eating out is the default here — around 61 cafés and restaurants inside a kilometer.

The practical checklist most buyers forget to make: pharmacy 8 min walk · GP 8 min · hospital 2.6 km · library 1.3 km · 2 cinemas within 5 km. None of these will decide a purchase on their own, but a GP taking new patients nearby is the kind of thing you only miss after moving.

Families and schools

For families: the nearest primary school is 13 minutes on foot; daycare is 1.0 km away — check waiting lists early, they are long everywhere in the Netherlands; secondary school is a 6-minute bike ride, which Dutch teenagers do in all weather.

Getting around

Getting around: the train station is 13 minutes on foot — commuting without a car is the natural choice; the nearest highway on-ramp is 2.7 km away; and at 0.6 cars per household, most residents simply don't own one — if you do, factor in permit costs and waiting lists before you buy.

Energy and running costs

100% of homes were built before 2000. Two identical-looking houses on the same street can differ by hundreds of euros a month once heating is counted — the energy label tells you which one you're looking at, and lenders increasingly price it into your mortgage too.

Before you bid in Smallepad e.o.

Before you bid in Smallepad e.o.: listings are scarce here, which pushes bidding above asking more often — decide your maximum before the viewing, not during it. Also, the price gap with the rest of Amersfoort is real, but so is the reason for it — walk the neighborhood at different times of day before committing.

None of these averages can tell you whether the specific house you found is fairly priced — that depends on its size, energy label, state of maintenance and the recent sales around it. That is exactly what a free HomeReview report checks, in about 10 seconds, for any Dutch address.

Frequently asked questions

Similar neighborhoods in Amersfoort

Closest in price — worth a look if Smallepad e.o. is out of reach or you want alternatives.