Note: This blog post is not meant for somebody is blind with numbers and does not understand statistics, probabilities and risks. Climate is a highly uncertain science especially if we are predicting decades into the future, but there are trends that may happen regardless of people sentiments and your instincts. If you are one of those people who cannot understand this and think that it might be ok in your limited memory of the past and therefore everything will be ok in the future, please don’t continue reading!
During Dec 2025, In the US, Zillow removed climate risk scores from over 1 million listings after real estate agents complained the data was hurting sales. TechCrunch
“When buyers lack access to clear climate-risk information, they make the biggest financial decision of their lives while flying blind.” is the quote in the article from First Street, the climate analytics provider and startup. I agree strongly with this quote and sentiment. The move leaves homebuyers without easy access to climate information that investors such as mortgage providers and insurers still use. It is only good for real estate brokers who thrive on information asymmetry world and a bad thing for most house buyers. I think for a future house owner, they should know the risks and be able to assess them.
Klimaateffectatlas#
I was wondering if there was something like that in the Netherlands. I found the Klimaateffectatlas , a free online tool that maps climate risks across the Netherlands. It’s maintained by Climate Adaptation Services on behalf of the Dutch government, and it’s worth a look if you’re curious about what your neighborhood might face in the coming decades. The Climate Effect Atlas is a useful tool. It won’t tell you where to live as that is your own decision to make based on your own set of factors, but it will give you information that’s surprisingly hard to find elsewhere for free. The data comes from KNMI climate scenarios and national research institutes, so it’s credible. If you’re buying property, check it. If you’re just curious about your neighborhood, check it anyway. And maybe think about what it means not just for your house, but for the area around you. Also you can find out what the municipality might be doing about it.
As an abstraction, The tool organizes its maps around five themes: flooding, waterlogging, drought, heat, and water quality. You can zoom into any address in the country and layer different scenarios on top of each other.
A few things stood out to me:
Flooding probability maps show which areas are at risk if primary flood defenses fail. This includes both sea flooding and river flooding. The maps use 2050 protection standards, which is a useful baseline.
Foundation risk maps are particularly interesting for anyone looking at older properties. In many parts of the country, drought can cause wooden pilings under houses to rot as groundwater levels drop. The atlas shows where this is most likely to happen.
Heat maps display perceived temperatures on hot summer days. Some urban areas can be several degrees warmer than nearby green spaces. The resolution is surprisingly good down to 2 meters in places.
Waterlogging maps show what happens during heavy rainfall. Which streets flood first? Where does water pool? Useful if you’ve ever wondered why your street turns into a canal during a storm.
PFAS Contamination#
While not part of the Climate Effect Atlas itself, there are related maps showing PFAS contamination across the country. The Atlas Leefomgeving shows measurement locations for these persistent chemicals, and the Forever Pollution Project maps contamination hotspots across Europe.
In the Netherlands, 96% of monitored water bodies exceed environmental quality standards for PFOS. The highest concentrations appear in coastal waters around Amsterdam and Rotterdam. This is separate from climate risk, but it’s another layer of environmental information that’s worth knowing about. I would prefer to keep away from such hotspots
Is this priced into the market prices ?#
The answer is NO. Research suggests climate risks aren’t properly priced into the Dutch housing market yet. The chief economists of ING, Rabobank, and ABN AMRO published a joint report recommending that the government, mortgage lenders, insurers, and appraisers develop and share climate risk information at the home level, potentially creating a “uniform climate label” for properties. Rabobank Research group Calcasa found that climate change could knock about 10% (€325 billion) off total Dutch house prices, with 3.7 million homes at risk of flooding and nearly 2 million at risk from drought effects. DutchNews.nl . But as awareness grows and banks start requiring climate risk disclosures, this could change quickly. A sudden repricing isn’t good for anyone who bought without considering these factors. I feel this will be phased in eventually only if there is political will power to back it up, pretty sure there will be a lot of landlords and house owners who will oppose the changes.
Should this affect where you live?#
But we don’t make housing decisions on risk maps alone. Here’s where it gets tricky. In theory, yes knowing that a neighborhood has higher flood risk or foundation problems should inform your decision. What seems hard is treating this information as one input among many and how do you weigh them? Convenience matters. Access to schools, shops, public transport, all of it matters. A house in a slightly riskier area might be close to your work, or just in a neighborhood where you feel at home matters even more. I think that should still outweigh a climate risk score if it is only mild. If you’re comparing two similar houses and one sits in an area with known foundation problems, that’s worth knowing. If your dream house is in a low-lying area, maybe you look into flood insurance more carefully or ask questions about the locality.