Inequality in housing among young adults is growing: “Socio-economic position is becoming increasingly important”
Where you are born, and to whom, increasingly determines your housing position, says Amber Howard, who defends her PhD at the University of Amsterdam on the housing market in the Netherlands and Australia. And that has far-reaching consequences. “Your home is the foundation of almost everything.”
What does the global housing crisis look like in the Netherlands?
“The housing crisis is a multi-headed beast: we are seeing rising prices for owner-occupied homes, enormous rents in the private rental sector and increasingly limited access to social housing.”
“Young adults are forced to live with their parents for longer, students are postponing graduation in order to stay in their homes, and people in their thirties are living with housemates for longer than they would like. Most young people are affected by this, just in different ways.”
In your research, you show that inequality among young people is increasing due to the housing market, especially in major cities such as Amsterdam. How does that work?
“In many high-income countries, problems in the housing market have worsened in recent years. It has become so difficult for newcomers to the housing market, that support from parents is having an increasingly significant role in determining young people’s housing situation, especially in major cities such as Amsterdam. This can take many forms. Parents can help their children find a rental property, act as guarantors, assist with a loan or even buy a house for them. Young adults can also live with their parents for longer and more comfortably, which allows them to save money. Even with a good income, young adults are finding it increasingly difficult to compete in the housing market without some form of support. Where you were born, and to who, now matters more than it did twenty years ago.”
Which group is hardest hit?
“Young adults on low incomes bear the heaviest burden. They are increasingly forced to live with their parents. And if they rent, this accounts for a large part of their income. Some of them are still protected because they have access to social housing, but that is also declining. In recent years, middle income groups have also been affected by the housing crisis in ways that would once seemed more familiar to lower earners, which is why public interest in the housing crisis has increased.”
According to figures from the The Netherlands’ Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, private investors in university towns are increasingly selling their mid-range properties. These are often the properties that students rent, leaving fewer places for students to live.
Government measures, such as the increase in transfer tax in 2021 for home buyers who do not occupy the property they purchase and the introduction of a maximum rent for mid-range properties, have probably led private investors to sell off their mid-range properties. They are now focusing on the more expensive segment, which is subject to less stringent legislation.
What are the consequences for young adults?
“We are only just beginning to understand the consequences of the housing crisis. Your home is the foundation of almost everything: whether you can study, how you can build a career, how and when you progress through other markers of adulthood, such as starting a family. The consequences of not having a decent, affordable and safe home are fundamental.”
Are students in Amsterdam also experiencing mental health consequences of the housing crisis?
“I can imagine so. We know that feelings of insecurity, fear for the future and not knowing where you stand undermine your ability to focus on any task. Some students are unable to move out, which we know might contribute to poorer mental health. Other students are dependent on the private rental sector which takes enormous shares of their incomes or loans, coming at the expense of money they could spend on sports, food and social activities. Directly or indirectly, these impact mental health and wellbeing.”
Can the housing crisis also drive friends apart?
“Potentially it could. We tend to associate a person’s living situation with ideas about success or failure. However, housing is largely determined by structural factors and not so much by personal effort, such as how hard you work. At the same time, everyone has a different starting position in the housing market, and given that family is playing an increasingly important role, this can cause tension within friendships. You may earn the same or work just as hard as your friends, but your living situation is different. In that case, it is important to be transparent about where your get help comes from. It is important to recognise and acknowledge your own privileges to challenge ideas around meritocracy and the idea that success in the housing market depends on your own talents and characteristics.”
How do we get out of the housing crisis?
“An obvious suggestion is to regulate the housing market more tightly. More social housing and better protection for tenants in the private sector. Activism also helps: whether you’re paying too much rent or can't get a mortgage, it’s a shared burden of the same underlying problem. So we need to join forces to challenge the system.”
Do you still have hope that things will get better soon?
“I'm afraid the problem is too big for a quick fix. The housing crisis is a deep, structural and social problem. There have been some shifts in regulation recently, but we’re in it very deep.”
Amber Howard will defend her PhD thesis, Housing Inequality in Young Adulthood, on Thursday 5 June at 11 a.m. The defence will take place in the Lutheran Church.
