4 ms·

Yes it's problematic in the sense that studio apartments typically go for €250k, whereas the median salary lets you borrow around €180k, and prices rose 10% las

Yes it's problematic in the sense that studio apartments typically go for €250k, whereas the median salary lets you borrow around €180k, and prices rose 10% last year, i.e. at a median salary even with 100% savings rate of net income, you can barely keep up with price increases. (although price growth is flattening these coming years). In other words, purchasing the smallest housing unit is impossible for about 3 out of 4 people, many of whom are born and raised there, and it's getting worse. Then there's the rental market. There's social housing, but the median salary is too high to be eligible for it. And even if you were low-income, the waiting list is now 15 years. So say you're 25 years old, there is no prospect of moving out of your parents' home unless you leaves the city you're born and raised in. Then there's the rest of the rental market. Rents typically start at 1100 or so for the smallest housing units, and you're typically required to earn gross 3.5x the rent each month, which is more than the median salary, too. And this concerns the smallest housing units. Not having your bedroom in your living room and in your kitchen is a luxury you can't easily find in this price range. Anything that's liveable long-term is going to require substantially above-median incomes. As for comparisons with Bay Area, it's simply not appropriate in any conversation about affordable housing worldwide if you ask me. Nor is an anecdote of a friend with uniquely high-income who can afford a nice place, appropriate either, in a discussion about affordable housing for all.

avar 8y ago
> There's social housing, but the median salary is too high to be eligible for it. It's worth noting that it's the salary at the time that you get the housing that counts, which creates a perverse situation where people now making say €200k/yr are still paying well below say €750/month in social rent. I've met some of those people. So we've got a social program that benefits both those of lesser means, and also some very rich people. But I guess "the poor (including because they're students) should get cheap housing" and "nobody should be forcibly evicted from social housing" are both things that sound good in isolation. > So say you're 25 years old, there is no prospect of moving out of your parents' home unless you leaves the city you're born and raised in. This sucks, but honestly it's hard to sympathize with the crocodile tears of people most responsible for creating and benefiting from the system that's now biting them in the ass. The parents of that 25 year old have likely been either benefiting from the rising property prices of a house they own, or have been getting government subsidized housing for decades. The real solution of aggressively increasing the housing supply would have gone against their short-term interests, and now it's gotten so bad that their kid can't apply for social housing at 18 and get it after they finish university (which used to be the case). Meanwhile, families who for whatever reason didn't have established roots in Amsterdam but work there have been commuting on the train or bus for 1-2 hours every day for decades, since they weren't in a situation to vote themselves and their kids into a benefit granted by the municipality.

avar 8y ago

> There's social housing, but the median salary is too high to be eligible for it. It's worth noting that it's the salary at the time that you get the housing that counts, which creates a perverse situation where people now making say €200k/yr are still paying well below say €750/month in social rent. I've met some of those people. So we've got a social program that benefits both those of lesser means, and also some very rich people. But I guess "the poor (including because they're students) should get cheap housing" and "nobody should be forcibly evicted from social housing" are both things that sound good in isolation. > So say you're 25 years old, there is no prospect of moving out of your parents' home unless you leaves the city you're born and raised in. This sucks, but honestly it's hard to sympathize with the crocodile tears of people most responsible for creating and benefiting from the system that's now biting them in the ass. The parents of that 25 year old have likely been either benefiting from the rising property prices of a house they own, or have been getting government subsidized housing for decades. The real solution of aggressively increasing the housing supply would have gone against their short-term interests, and now it's gotten so bad that their kid can't apply for social housing at 18 and get it after they finish university (which used to be the case). Meanwhile, families who for whatever reason didn't have established roots in Amsterdam but work there have been commuting on the train or bus for 1-2 hours every day for decades, since they weren't in a situation to vote themselves and their kids into a benefit granted by the municipality.