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Navigating the field of housing: housing pathways of young people in Amsterdam

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Abstract

In many western cities, housing opportunities of young people are increasingly constrained due to housing market reforms and decreasing affordability as a result of processes of gentrification. Little is known about how young people deal with these constraints and how this differs across class and other boundaries. This paper addresses this question, by showing how young people make use of various forms of capital to gain access to specific sections of the housing market. Connecting concepts of Bourdieu and De Certeau to theories about housing pathways, this paper presents new ideas about how young people follow different pathways as they navigate the housing field. Next to a linear housing pathway, this paper presents two other housing pathway types: young households can either follow a chaotic pathway deliberately and relatively successfully or become trapped in a chaotic pathway. This paper shows the possession of various forms of capital, and their utilisation has a marked influence on the type of pathway young people follow.

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Notes

  1. We focus on the age category of 18–35 year olds.

  2. Individuals can register for social housing; yet, due to the limited number of dwellings becoming available, dwellings are assigned according to the duration of registration (i.e. waiting time).

  3. In 2013, the rent cap however is subject to year-to-year changes.

  4. Most agencies, including housing associations, ask new tenants in the private-rental sector to earn three or four times the rent. This is to ensure tenants can afford the monthly rent.

  5. ‘Kadaster collects and registers administrative and spatial data on property and the rights involved’, see: http://www.kadaster.nl/web/english.htm

  6. Without her registration at this address, it would not be ‘owner-occupied’ anymore. Rent would then be taxable. Now, it looks like a form of cohabitation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of the Interior for funding the research; Marijn Sleurink, Richard Ronald, Sako Musterd, Robbin-Jan van Duijne for collaborating on this research project; and three anonymous referees for useful suggestions.

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  1. Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research/Urban Geographies, University of Amsterdam, Plantage Muidergracht 14, 1018 TV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Cody Hochstenbach & Willem R. Boterman

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  1. Cody Hochstenbach
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  2. Willem R. Boterman
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Correspondence to Willem R. Boterman.

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Hochstenbach, C., Boterman, W.R. Navigating the field of housing: housing pathways of young people in Amsterdam. J Hous and the Built Environ 30, 257–274 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-014-9405-6

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