🇳🇱🏠 Netherlands: Young people can live with their parents while the authorities resolve the housing issue for migrants

Dutch Housing Minister Eleanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan (D66) came under criticism following a remark about the allocation of social housing. When asked by a journalist from the De Telegraaf newspaper why refugees with residence permits were given priority in housing allocation while young Dutch people were unable to find their own homes, the minister said: “Fortunately, many young people can still live with their parents for the time being.” At the same time, she acknowledged that this situation was far from ideal.

The minister explained that the state was obliged to provide housing for people who had been granted the right to remain in the country, and announced additional measures to resolve the housing crisis. Meanwhile, a study by the Dutch Economic Institute for Construction (EIB) shows that migration was responsible for around 60 percent of the increase in housing demand between 2015 and 2024. This figure refers to additional demand and not to the share of newly built homes allocated to migrants. The minister’s remark drew sharp criticism, including from Geert Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom.

Young Dutch people work, pay taxes, and plan families, but are increasingly forced to postpone their independent lives because of the lack of affordable housing. Against this backdrop, the minister’s words that staying with one’s parents was an option sounded particularly inappropriate.

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