The housing market in the Netherlands is under siege, faced with a shortage of 390,000 homes by 2023. This shortage has led to an overheated housing market. This situation severely affects first-time homebuyers who often lack the capital to compete. Consequently, they encounter challenges in finding suitable housing, which for some, necessitates prolonged residence with their parents or the acceptance of lower-quality living conditions.
While literature acknowledges this issue, it often uses a quantitative approach, missing the qualitative perspective that focuses on first-time homebuyers’ specific problems and needs. Engaging with recent and potential homebuyers allow to better understand the complex factors affecting housing demand.

The central research question is: “What lessons can be learned from the experiences of recent and potential first-time homebuyers to improve the prospects of homeownership in the Dutch housing market?”. The aim is to explore insights from recent and potential first-time homebuyers to improve the prospect of homeownership.

This question was addressed using a mixed-method approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative technique to provide a better understanding of the topic. Initially, a literature review and WoON data analysis, and document analysis were done, establishing a foundation for the research. Subsequently, interviews were conducted to delve into the experiences and perspectives of recent and potential first-time homebuyers. The combined approach of objective data and subjective experiences provided an understanding of the issues surrounding first-time homebuyers.

The literature study revealed that due to the housing shortage, there is a financial gap for many first-time homebuyers and highlighted the variety of financial instruments available to address this gap. Data from the WoON survey illustrated differences in preferences between recent and potential first-time homebuyers. The interviews further investigated the experiences of first-time homebuyers and examined the differences between their initial preferences and the actual choices they made in the housing market. These interviews revealed widespread misconceptions and a lack of knowledge about financial instruments, leading to unequal access to these beneficial products. They also underscored the influence of living situations on the willingness to compromise on preferences. Additionally, the impact of rising prices and overbidding complicates both down payments and monthly payments. These first-time homebuyers also reported experiencing high pressure from selling agents, leading to unwanted decisions and further escalating prices.

The study faced several limitations, including the relatively brief duration of the interviews compared to its scope, which restricted deep exploration of topics, potential response bias from participants, and the data being collected during specific, possibly non-representative time periods.

To address the challenges, short-term actions could include launching educational campaigns to increase awareness of financial instruments for first-time homebuyers and creating an online portal that simplifies the home-buying process. Medium-term measures might focus on expanding and standardizing financial support programs, like starter loans, across municipalities to ensure equal access and reduce regional disparities. Additionally, offering subsidies or vouchers for professional mortgage advisory services could guide homebuyers through the complex housing market. Long-term strategies should include regulating overbidding and speculative buying to stabilize prices and enhance affordability, as well as establishing ethical guidelines for sellers to ensure fair treatment.

JOY deals with the social segregration between the older and younger generation. How to join the older generation with the younger generation by creating an intergenerational living environment that offers opportunities for social interaction within the living environment.

The shortage of housing stock in The Netherlands is one of the major societal issues at present. It is predominantly the people who want to enter the housing market for the first time, the so-called ‘starters’, who face severe problems due to a lack of stock and suitable dwellings. This problem is manifest in the rental as well as in the owner-occupied housing sector. The sole focus of government policies is on housing for the lower social class and the rest of the housing market is dominated by the private sector. Objective – This research aims to define the position of starters on the Dutch housing market in comparison with the position of starters in the context of 1993. The research question that is answered is: ‘To what extent do the factors societal context, housing policy and housing stock influence the opportunities for starters on the housing market in 2018 compared to 1993?’. This question is answered on the basis of the housing choice model. This model is based on the career / life cycle theory of Priemus (1984). In the housing choice model, an extension has been made based on the theory of Dieleman (2001) which takes the external factors that determine the choice of a home into account. Methods – The research is conducted by a literature study and a quantitative analysis. The quantitative analysis has been done on data generated from an extensive quasi longitudinal study. Specifically, the data of 1993 and 2018 were compared to each other. Results – The literature study and the quantitative analysis show that the starter on the Dutch housing market has a good social position in terms of income, education and employment. However, as housing policies failed to respond to the changed social context ultimately resulting in too few houses being built, the position of the starter has deteriorated. This deteriation position is confirmed by the data analysis, which indicates that starters conform to the market situation. Firstly, it is apparent that significantly fewer starters than in the past are entering the housing market. Secondly, starters are entering the market at a much older age than their predecessors. Finally, it is clear that starters in every age category are more likely to choose to live in multi-person households to increase their payment capacity. Conclusions – The final conclusion of this study is that the opportunities for the starter on the housing market in 2018 are mainly determined by the housing stock. However, the relative scarcity of housing stock for the starter is chiefly the result of housing policies which have not responded to societal changes. This implies that housing policy is ultimately the decisive factor in the disadvantageous position of the starter. The average starter has a good starting position from a social perspective due to low unemployment, very low interest rates and good prospects for social growth. However, the starter has minimal chances of entering the housing market due to, in particular, insufficient suitable housing stock. This applies to both the free rental sector and the owner-occupied sector and homes are hardly financially accessible for starters. This good starting position has mainly been confined to the lower rental and owner-occupied sector on the housing market in 2018. This means that starters are more likely to opt for a home in a relatively expensive segment or postpone the choice for a home.