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Much of the literature surrounding 'generation rent' has been criticized for neglecting socio-economic inequalities, stimulating an emergent body of work addressing intersections between age and class in shaping housing opportunities. Despite this, two key conceptual and empirical gaps remain under-explored: the manifestation of housing outcomes beyond a binary owner-renter tenure framework, and the drivers of inequalities aside from exclusion from homeownership. In addressing these omissions, this paper compares shifts in tenure (restructuring of rental sectors), housing conditions (affordability and precarity), and alternative housing situations (parental co-residence), between income groups in two contexts: Australia and the Netherlands. Findings illuminate increasingly multifaceted housing pressures faced by young adults, remarkable differences between private-renters and occupants of other tenures, and growing socio-economic disparities within the private-rental sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper answers the question why the Dutch state has gone from vigorously stimulating private-rental growth and liberalization to actively restricting the tenure. Answering this question is important in understanding an emergent wave of more restrictive, or even "post-neoliberal" housing policies across countries. This paper presents an analysis of the changing private-rental politics in the period following the Great Financial Crisis, combined with a quantitative study of renters' housing outcomes. The central argument is that policies promoting private-rental growth and liberalization and the subsequent turn restrictive policies are both outcomes of the state seeking to balance the property-led accumulation with middle-class residential demands. Supportive policies were the result of a presumed alignment of the interests of capital, the state and the middle classes, but ongoing liberalization has undermined middle-class housing affordability – revealing a key tension between capital and middle-class interests. This tension triggered new, more restrictive policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy saving is an explicit goal of housing retrofitting in both the Netherlands and China. Retrofit providers expect to achieve this goal by applying insulation to apartment buildings and improvements in heating, cooling and ventilation. The aim of this paper is to explore both conceptually and empirically the interactions between householders and retrofit providers. Interaction activities are conceptualized in a framework of overlapping practices of retrofitting and everyday life. Empirical material is derived from interviews with retrofit providers and householders in the Netherlands and China. This paper shows that full energy saving potential in housing retrofitting fails to be accomplished, due to a limited involvement of householders at the consumption junctions in retrofit processes. Central to this failure are the limited options for residents to share pre-retrofit living experiences, to test future housing equipment beforehand and to customize retrofit packages. Also post-retrofit educational support, evaluation and monitoring is falling short to engage householders in their appropriation of their retrofitted apartment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The private rental sector (PRS) is making a surprising comeback. A central argument in our paper is that we see the rise of PRS and the associated stagnation of homeownership as springing from the contradictions inherent to financialized homeowner societies. Rather than a feature of either mature or late homeowner societies, contradictions of the promotion of homeownership through the expansion of mortgage markets paved the way for a revival of the PRS. Our case is the Netherlands, but our argument has a wider remit. We sketch the dominant trends in Dutch housing policy and present an overview of the rise of PRS and Buy-To-Let in Dutch cities. We identify how housing policies and realities have driven a shift from a debt-driven to a wealth-driven model of financialization, in which the demand for PRS as an investment class and as a place to live has become central. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do municipalities strategically use land policy to develop land for housing? The development of housing is a challenge for many European countries, though the scale and time of it differs. Issues are not always about the absolute number of houses that need to be supplied in a country. The distribution and quality of houses affect the demand for housing. Land policy determines where and how future developments take place, and as a result, it has a considerable impact on both supply and demand of housing. Municipalities use different strategies of land policy to pursue housing goals. This paper aims to explore the rationalities underpinning such strategies of land policy. Therefore, a theory on pluralism – Cultural Theory – is employed to understand municipal strategies in different contexts, i.e. Germany (Ruhr region), Belgium (Flanders), and Netherlands. Applying Cultural Theory to land policy results in four ideal-typical strategies of active, passive, reactive, and protective land policies. Despite the fact that the decisions of municipalities are made within (or constrained by) their institutional environments (i.e. national/regional planning systems, development cultures, etc.), we found that there are key similarities between the strategies of the studied municipalities regardless of their different institutional environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, presenting evidence from the Netherlands, aims to connect two issues that are mostly dealt with in isolation: the development of the squatters’ movement and the increasing vacancy of offices in urban areas. As a result of overproduction of office space, the shrinking number of employed people and the growing popularity of the so-called ‘new working arrangements’, the vacancy of offices in urban areas is increasing quickly. Urban managers are faced with a significant challenge of managing these empty spaces and this paper discusses how squatting, despite an unsupportive legislative environment, has historically proliferated when vacancy rates rise. In order to understand contemporary policy debates surrounding this issue, this paper first sets out a brief history of the squatters’ movement in the Netherlands, Europe and elsewhere. Dutch government has wrestled with the squatting issue since 1976 and has tried to control this movement by legislation. Hence, the paper provides a critical overview of legislative and practical developments affecting squatters in the Netherlands, particularly in their occupation of vacant office space. Finally, the paper considers how vacant office space might be used more effectively to provide affordable housing, with a particular focus on the role of squatting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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An ongoing question in capability research is how to incorporate the value of freedom into the measurement of inequality. This article proposes an approach to answering this question in the housing domain and its operationalisation. The approach places an evaluation focus to the conditions constraining or expanding housing choices in the dimensions of opportunity, security, and ability. For operationalisation, the study designed a measurement of multidimensional housing disadvantages (MHDs) using the Alkire-Foster method and data from the Netherlands. Indicators include the entitlement to housing tenure options, vulnerability in housing cost payments, and ability to plan finance for housing. The measurement outcome demonstrates that the MHDs measurement can provide information on whose housing choices are more intensely constrained, thus having a lower capability for housing, and whose current housing situation is likely a result of coerced choices. The findings indicate that adults living with housemates or family (latent households), youths, and those with precarious jobs have a significantly lower capability for housing compared to other population groups. This article also compares the freedom-oriented measure of MHDs with functioning-oriented and other conventional measures and discusses its distinguishing properties. This comparison suggests a need to revisit current policy priorities in addressing housing inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing and its distribution over groups of households dominates debates on urban socio-spatial justice. Amsterdam even received the label 'Just City' as the large stock of social housing in the core of the city is said to increase societal equity. Within the Netherlands, however, the Greater Amsterdam housing market is perceived to be the most dysfunctional. As the discussion is fed by highly political and ideological perspectives, it is difficult to assess at face value how balanced the housing mix of a housing market is and to what extent it meets the community's needs. Consequently, it is difficult to inform politicians about strategies that contribute to a healthy and sustainable housing mix and address the lack of affordable housing which is high on urban policy agendas worldwide. In an attempt to go beyond ideological and political discussions, the aim of this interdisciplinary paper is to develop a metric to measure and compare the theoretical balance of housing markets across regions and across groups of households based on income. The metric will be applied to the case of the Netherlands. The findings of the theoretical model show that large-scale provisions for low-income households may not always result in an improved housing market balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes a simple affordability model that implicitly incorporates the major Dutch market features to elucidate long-run house prices under a regulatory environment. The results reveal a long-run relationship for house prices under strict regulations. The association among house prices, income, interest rates, and inflation is verified using an aggregated dataset. In the long-run, incomes and interest rates function as the two prime forces driving price dynamics, whereas the role of inflation is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-binary and genderqueer (NBGQ) individuals do not identify with a binary gender identity. Some but not all NBGQ individuals identify as transgender, and it is currently unclear on which aspects of mental and sexual well-being NBGQ and binary transgender individuals may differ. To compare NBGQ, binary transgender and cisgender individuals on variables related to mental well-being, sexual well-being, and sexual self-concept discrepancies. We conducted an online questionnaire study in 125 transgender men, 72 transgender women, 78 NBGQ individuals, 98 cisgender men, and 107 cisgender women. For most variables, NBGQ individuals did not differ from binary transgender individuals. These two groups differed only on gender dysphoria and transgender specific body image worries, which were both lower in the NBGQ group. Compared to the cisgender group, NBGQ individuals scored higher on gender dysphoria, actual/ought sexual self-concept discrepancies, and actual/ideal sexual self-concept discrepancies, and lower on general life satisfaction and sexual esteem related to body perception. These results offer a first quantitative analysis of sexual well-being in NBGQ individuals, and highlight that – while both groups face unique challenges – NBGQ individuals encounter similar difficulties concerning mental and sexual well-being as binary transgender individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Netherlands, several housing projects have housed local young adults and refugees together, attracting media and academic attention. Along with praise for complementing the integration process of newcomers, criticism has also been leveled that such projects are often located far from residential areas. Meanwhile, the SET project located in a residential area in Amsterdam attempt to extend the active participation of locals in facilitating the integration of newcomers. This qualitative study investigated the community experiences of Syrian newcomers, the elements which stimulate or hinder newcomers' participation in community activities and care programs in their everyday lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries use demand-side housing subsidies to support low-income households. Unlike public or social housing programs, demand-side subsidies require recipients to enter the private market to use their benefits. The focus of this study is the experiences of assisted households in the private housing market and the outcomes they achieve. Given the link between policy design and program outcomes and because all housing subsidy programs are not created equal, one might expect the experiences and outcomes of recipients to also vary. To examine this relationship, using data from national housing surveys, this study analyzes cross-national variation in housing support programs and compares the housing and neighbourhood outcomes of subsidized households in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands. The findings of this study highlight that market context and policy design are associated with housing outcomes. In particular, the strong tenant supports and favourable design of housing assistance in the Netherlands is associated with favourable outcomes for subsidized households. In the US and the UK, subsidized households, in general, underperform their unsubsidized peers. This article underscores the importance of institutional context and program design when public assistance programs require recipients to enter the private market to use a benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social quality in housing complexes for older adults depends largely on the opportunities to participate in social activities and the social connections between residents in the complex. The aim of this mixed-methods study was to explore the possibilities of residents in low-income housing complexes to improve the social quality in their complexes, and to get insight into their need for professional support. Results showed that the self-organizing capacity of the residents is limited due to a lack of knowledge and organizational skills, and health problems. Improving social quality requires permanent attention from facilitating professionals who guide the process and ensure continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate vulnerabilities of the built environment are increasingly recognised. Mainstreaming adaptation concerns in urban development and redevelopment projects is commonly propagated as an effective policy strategy. Adaptation mainstreaming research often studies public actors. This article investigates the adaptation practices by housing associations, in the institutional and discursive developments of the social housing domain in which they are embedded. The analytical concepts of mainstreaming and adaptation barriers are combined with the discursive-institutional policy arrangement approach to answer the question: what factors influence the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation measures in development and renovation projects in the social housing domain in the Netherlands? We conclude that anticipatory and deliberate adaptation action to date was very scarce and attention limited in the social housing domain. On the project implementation level, factors that hampered adaptation mainstreaming in housing development were limited awareness, low priority in relation to other issues, financial constraints, regulatory constraints, lacking cooperation, and no materialisation of adaptation concerns in procedures and performance agreements. On the level of the policy arrangement, adaptation is weakly institutionalized in the Dutch social housing domain. The institutionalisation of a competing 'core activities' discourse hampered the legality of climate adaptation measures and eroded financial resources, dispersing the power to mobilise them over the arrangement. Uncertainty over the meaning of the new regulations, in combination with the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework for adaptation and the self-identified culture of risk aversion by housing associations, delimits adaptation action becoming a standard operating procedure of social housing associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1997 and 2012 temporary tenancies emerged and evolved as a pragmatic policy instrument within the Dutch housing sector. In this article, based on analyses of policy documents, media content and parliamentary archives, we argue that this was a period of implicit, technocratic erosion of the existing permanent rental norm, creating the political and material foundations for the emergence of a new, more explicit ideological discourse that has been evident since 2013. We then explore these most recent developments, in which temporary tenancies are now championed as a catalyst for structural housing market reform, and comment on the possibility that the recent proposal to introduce time-limited tenancies as a normal form of tenure, will lead to permanent, rather than temporary, contracts becoming marginal in Dutch society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]