Better insulation and ventilation in social housing means that children need less medication for asthma or allergies. This is the conclusion of a large-scale study involving two million people, monitored for 10 years by researchers from TU/e and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). It is the first study to show on a large scale that making…

Many countries offer financial support to young buyers to make homeownership more easily accessible for the next generation. A high-profile policy in this respect was the 2021 Dutch “starter tax exemption” (startersvrijstelling OVB), which waived the standard 2% real-estate transfer tax for homebuyers under 35. The idea was simple: lower the barrier to entry for…

Which house price data can researchers use? Ideally, one would use sales prices: the prices at which houses were actually sold. In practice, however, this data isn’t always available, or it only becomes available with a delay. Therefore, list prices or assessed values ​​(such as the official tax assessments like WOZ values in the Netherlands)…

In a recent article, Marco Giacoletti, Matthijs Korevaar and Franklin Qian study a large-scale policy relaxing residential land supply constraints near major Dutch cities in the mid-1990s (the so-called ‘Vinex policy‘). Land allocation was determined centrally and was unrelated to pre-policy local market dynamics. Using administrative data, the effects on housing, mobility, and labour markets…

What is the societal and economic value of NV Zeedijk? This question was addressed by Thomas de Graaff, Casper Klipp en Hans Koster. NV Zeedijk was founded in the 1980s to revitalize the then-deteriorated Zeedijk area in Amsterdam. By strategically purchasing, renovating, and actively managing properties, the organization – with the Municipality of Amsterdam as…

The housing market Is not immune to climate change. When we think about climate change, we often focus on floods and heavy rainfall. But underground, a slower and less visible risk is emerging: land subsidence. Sinking gardens, cracked walls, broken pipes, and damaged foundations occur gradually, but they can suddenly lead to major financial consequences…

Recent research by Jan Rouwendal, Or Levkovich, Edwin Buitelaar and Jip Claassens, published in Regional Science and Urban Economics, shows that the prices of older commercial buildings increase relative to younger ones. According to the researchers, this is the result of the so-called “vintage effect”: in a growing real estate market, older buildings turn out…

Housing Lab, in collaboration with Finance Ideas*, invites researchers to submit high-quality papers that explore trends, innovative solutions, and challenges in the Dutch housing market. The selected papers will be presented at a seminar on 18 November 2025 (from 15:00–17:30, at Creative Valley in Utrecht (Stationsplein 32, 3511 ED), attended by academics, policymakers, and professionals…

What is the effect of baby boom generations on the housing market? This question is answered by Marc Francke and Matthijs Korevaar in a publication in The Journal of Finance, entitled “Baby Booms and Asset Booms: Demographic Change and the Housing Market.” This research paper is based on a very simple fact: people need housing…

The housing crisis in the Netherlands requires more than symptom control and short-term political fixes. Four housing market experts – Peter Boelhouwer, Jan Rouwendal, Desiree Uitzetter, and Friso de Zeeuw – are sounding the alarm in the run-up to the cabinet formation. Their message to politicians is clear: stop the zigzag policy approach and commit…