Uncertainty among residents of North Holland about the housing market: “My children have been on a waiting list for 12 years”

Over the past few months, we have conducted large-scale research with Kieskompas into topics that are currently alive among the people of North Holland. Half of the residents of North Holland indicated that finding a suitable, affordable home for themselves or others is one of the most important topics. “The housing market has become unaffordable. Our children have been on a waiting list for 12 years. Buying is not possible without your own money. Help from parents is made more difficult”, is one of the responses from the study.

According to urban sociologist Beate Volker, it is because people tend to look for subjects close to home in times of crisis. Due to current developments, inflation, shortages on the housing market, high gas and energy prices, the housing market is currently the talk of the town, she says. “The problems ultimately all have repercussions on the housing market.” She gives the energy market as an example: “Many people are concerned with the question: how can we become more sustainable and thus save? If it doesn’t work out, they look for another more sustainable house.”

Lack of clear policy

According to housing market expert Peter Boelhouwer, the shortage on the housing market and high house prices are the result of a lack of unambiguous policy. It oscillates too much between market forces and government intervention. “The government wants to build in complicated locations, but the market has to solve it. Then it will get stuck.”

North Hollanders also believe that the government’s approach leaves much to be desired. For example, more than three quarters of the inhabitants are in favor of the introduction of self-occupancy and another three quarters indicate that they believe that owning several houses should be discouraged by taxing them more heavily.

“Houses have to become places to live again. No objects to make a profit from,” one responds. “Ensure a self-occupancy obligation. That private landlords will pay tax and that houses can only be bought by people who live in the Netherlands,” another North Hollander responds in the study.

But, according to Boelhouwer, we are not there with only the approach of private landlords and investors. Active efforts should also be made to realize suitable housing for seniors. More than two-thirds of the inhabitants of North Holland indicate that this should be given the highest priority.

Stimulating house splitting

“Provide more supply of (affordable) rental housing, in particular for seniors, to promote the flow from purchase to rent”, someone responds in the study. Others emphasize that young people and the elderly can also live together perfectly. “Simpler regulations must be introduced to make it possible for the elderly and young people to live together.”

Volker and Boelhouwer are also enthusiastic about this form of cohabitation. Volker: “There are a lot of elderly people who live in large houses, why can’t younger ones join them?” According to Boelhouwer, many municipalities can take an example from the municipality of Bergen, where housing division is active is stimulated. There, the municipality has made the permit for splitting a house free in the hope that more homeowners will divide their space.

Still, according to Boelhouwer, many solutions are just a blanket for the bleeding. According to him, the lack of unambiguous policy and the current problems, which Volker also mentioned, makes the situation very complicated and hopeless. “A real solution cannot be found. The situation requires drastic changes to the current policy.”