Housing shortage preventing people from moving back to their childhood towns
A tightening housing market in the Netherlands is increasingly preventing people from returning to the towns and cities where they grew up, according to new research by ING released Thursday.
The study shows that while 48 percent of Dutch residents still live in the area where they were raised, another 28 percent say they intend to return there in the future. However, many face significant barriers, including limited housing supply and affordability issues.
A third of people who have moved away cite a lack of available housing in their home regions as a key reason they cannot return. Four in ten say housing costs are a major obstacle.
“You also see here that there is a blockage in the housing market, because the supply is simply not sufficient to do what you would like,” Wim Flikweert, ING’s housing market manager, told AD.
The research indicates that people often leave their hometowns for relationships or work. Over a lifetime, 61 percent of people raised in villages relocate, as do 47 percent of those raised in cities.
For those who later seek to return, the process is increasingly difficult. Family is the main reason cited by one-third of respondents who want to move back to their original home. Other motivations include familiarity, a sense of belonging, and the presence of friends.
“People sometimes live somewhere else for a very long time, but you see that there is still a group that feels connected to their old place,” Flikweert said. “That can be people who are retired or people who are going to care for their parents. But you see that it is then difficult to find suitable housing.”
The issue is not always affordability. Homeowners selling property in major cities may have substantial equity, giving them financial flexibility in other regions. Instead, the problem is often a mismatch between supply and demand.
“From city to countryside, it is more likely to be a lack of suitable housing,” Flikweert added. “For example, does a smaller municipality have an apartment complex of the size and single-level homes people are looking for? The mismatch is sometimes due to a difference in quality, not a lack of homes.
