Buying a house in Lombok (Utrecht): how to reach the owners

Lombok 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

Lombok has 3,757 addresses in the BAG register.
An existing home in the municipality of Utrecht sold in 2025 for €549,000 on average, +5.6% on 2024 (CBS StatLine).

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

Updated on 4 October 2026.

Lombok is the neighbourhood everyone in Utrecht knows from the Kanaalstraat, but where almost nobody finds a house. The streets behind the Kanaalstraat are quiet, the houses small and the residents stay. Those who buy a ground-floor flat here as first-time buyers often later swap it for a whole house two streets away, and that goes from hand to hand, without a sign in the garden.

They are pre-war workers' houses from around 1900: upstairs and ground-floor flats and narrow terraced houses with a small town garden. On the Billitonkade and the Riouwstraat stand the somewhat larger buildings; in Lombok-West the houses are slightly younger and slightly more spacious. The most sought after is a whole house with a garden in a side street, and that almost never comes free through Funda.

If I were looking here, I would pick two or three side streets off the Kanaalstraat and write to the residents of the houses that suit me. Honestly: who I am, that I want to live in Lombok and why, and that I am not writing on behalf of an investor. Here people would rather see their house go to someone who already knows the neighbourhood than to the highest bidder on Funda.

Lombok 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: 3,757; BAG via PDOK

Value and prices

Average sale price, municipality of Utrecht: €549,000+5.6% 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 Utrecht per year since 1995

Streets people ask about

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

Kanaalstraat · Billitonkade · Riouwstraat · J.P. Coenstraat · Damstraat · Lombokstraat

Postcode area 3531.

Other neighbourhoods in Utrecht

This page in Dutch: Huis kopen in Lombok.

Frequently asked questions

How do I approach owners in Lombok?

With a short, personal letter to the residents of the houses where you would really want to live. Write who you are, why Lombok, and that you are not an investor. 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 Lombok?

Little, and what comes up is often small. Whole houses with a garden rarely change hands here, and when it happens the buyer is often already known: a neighbour, a friend, someone who had come forward earlier. That is why writing to owners directly pays off here.

Which streets are the most sought after?

The quiet side streets between the Kanaalstraat and the Vleutenseweg, and the quays on the water, such as the Billitonkade. But above all pick the street that suits you; a less well-known street often gives you a better chance than the street everyone names.

What is the difference between Lombok-Oost and Lombok-West?

Lombok-Oost lies closest to the station and the centre and has the oldest, smallest houses. Lombok-West was built slightly later, with slightly more spacious homes. CBS counts them as two neighbourhoods; for most people looking here, it is one search.

Write to the owners in Lombok.

Pick a street, write in your own words why you want to live in Lombok, 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