Buying a house in the Burgemeesterswijk (Leiden): how to reach the owners

The Burgemeesterswijk is a neighbourhood where little comes up for sale and much of it changes hands without ever reaching Funda. If you want to live here, a personal letter to the owners in a few chosen streets gives you a better chance than waiting for a listing.

In short

The Burgemeesterswijk has 909 addresses in the BAG register.
An existing home in the municipality of Leiden sold in 2025 for €492,000 on average, +3.8% on 2024 (CBS StatLine).

Written by Jiri, estate agent in Maastricht and founder of DoorLetter.

Updated on 5 October 2026.

The Burgemeesterswijk is to Leiden what the Professorenwijk also is: the neighbourhood families want to move to and where they stay. The houses have a garden and the centre is within walking distance. Little comes up for sale, and part of that goes outside Funda: from neighbour to neighbour, from parent to child, or to someone who had already come forward.

The neighbourhood was built in the 1920s and 1930s to a plan by Granpré Molière, Verhagen and Kok, with the Burggravenlaan as its wide axis. Town houses on the Van Vollenhovenkade along the water, in the side streets terraced houses with a bay window, stained glass and a deep back garden. A spacious 1930s house with a garden is what everyone is looking for and what comes free the least.

If I were looking here, I would pick two or three streets, the De Gijselaarstraat for instance or a stretch of the Roodenburgerstraat, and write to the residents of the houses that suit me. Short and honest: who we are, why the Burgemeesterswijk, and that we are going to live in the house ourselves. A letter that is already in the drawer when the conversation about moving begins is the first to surface.

Burgemeesterswijk in figures

Public figures about the neighbourhood, refreshed daily. They say something about who lives here and what it costs; whether anything will come up for sale, they do not say. That is what the letter is for.

Homes

Addresses: 909; BAG via PDOK

Value and prices

Average sale price, municipality of Leiden: €492,000+3.8% on 2024; CBS StatLine, existing homes 2025

Sources: the Dutch address and building register (BAG) via PDOK, CBS neighbourhood statistics (Wijken en Buurten), CBS StatLine (existing owner-occupied homes, average sale price per municipality). No source publishes overbidding figures per neighbourhood, so they are not here.

The average sale price in Leiden per year since 1995

Streets people ask about

These are the streets most often named by people searching in the Burgemeesterswijk. Choose one or two where you would really want to live, not the whole list.

Burggravenlaan · Van Vollenhovenkade · Du Rieustraat · De Gijselaarstraat · Van der Brandelerkade · Roodenburgerstraat

Postcode area 2313.

Other neighbourhoods in Leiden

This page in Dutch: Huis kopen in de Burgemeesterswijk.

Frequently asked questions

How do I approach owners in the Burgemeesterswijk?

With a short, personal letter to the residents of the houses where you would really want to live: who you are, why the Burgemeesterswijk, and that you are going to live there yourself. Through DoorLetter the first letter is free, printed and delivered by PostNL, and the owner can reply anonymously, even months later.

Does much come up for sale in the Burgemeesterswijk?

Little, and demand is high, also from people who come to Leiden for the university or the LUMC. Part of the sales take place outside Funda, from neighbour to neighbour or through an estate agent who already knew a buyer. That is why writing to owners yourself pays off here.

Which streets are the most sought after?

The Van Vollenhovenkade and the Van der Brandelerkade on the water, the Burggravenlaan and the quiet streets in between. But sought after also means a lot of competition; a street that you find beautiful and that not everyone names often gives you a better chance.

What is the difference with the Professorenwijk?

The Professorenwijk lies on the other side of the Burggravenlaan and is from the same period, with comparable 1930s houses; the streets there are named after professors, here after mayors. CBS counts them separately; for most people looking here, it is part of the same search.

Write to the owners in the Burgemeesterswijk.

Pick a street, write in your own words why you want to live in the Burgemeesterswijk, and send your letter. The first letter is free, printed and delivered by PostNL; the owner can reply anonymously with the code in the letter.

Write your first letter