Housing is back on the political agenda in many European countries. For example, during the Dutch elections in November 2023, housing was one of the most discussed topics. This can be explained by the many urgent housing problems that need to be solved today. Many countries are facing greater demand for housing than predicted a few years ago and living in the existing stock is becoming increasingly expensive, partly due to poor insulation and high energy prices. Housing is hardly affordable anymore for young, low- and middle-income groups, especially in larger cities. Marginalization, segregation and affordability are therefore back on the political agenda.

The ENHR conference in Delft 2024 will not only be dedicated to further exploring these issues. The emphasis will be on how these problems can be solved. These solutions will be discussed from different perspectives during the six plenary meetings at the conference. First of all, the current Dutch housing policy will be presented. Over the past two years, the Minister of Housing in the Netherlands has launched an impressive number of policy proposals on various aspects of the housing market. But less established and promising new forms of new housing initiatives will also be discussed, such as the development of a third sector of housing cooperatives. These can be part of the solution to social, affordability and environmental challenges in our housing markets. Affordability problems can also be solved by the energy transition and by producing homes in an industrialized manner. Both topics will be discussed in detail during the plenary meetings. Not all households are suffering equally from the housing crisis, but the housing future of young people is really at stake. The conference will address key socio-economic and housing transformations and how they are reshaping the standard life course of young people. At the end of the conference, the debate from the Barcelona 2022 conference on the role of housing researchers continues: should they become housing activists or try to remain independent and provide insights and knowledge about the housing system?

Prof. Dr. Peter Boelhouwer,
professor of Housing Systems and conference chair