Housing young people Annual Conference of the HSA, University of York, UK, Dr. Harald Stoeger, University of Linz, Austria

Conservative housing systems Policies: strong and long-standing tradition of state intervention in the field of housing Decentralisation of policy-making Mixed model of housing provision LPH providers and families as key suppliers of „affordable“ housing Minor relevance of demand-side assistance

Perceived housing problems of young people Well-housed country, but growing concerns about the lack of suitable and affordable housing: Unintended side-effect of previous housing and welfare reforms Empirical evidence largely uncontested Struggle over an appropriate definition of “young people” = “new entrants”?

Policy responses Subsidisation of starter homes: First time buyers: Rediscovery of an “old idea” At the provincial level, issue of conditionality First time buyers: public loans to improve accessibility Modification of allocation rules in the municipal housing sector Maintaining the role of families for housing provision

Policy responses Paucity of initiatives in the private rental housing sector: with regard to rent regulation, termination of illegal practices, mobilisation of “empty homes” etc. LPH providers: minimum quota of fixed-term tenancies income-related rents for new entrants (contested issue)

Outcomes Starter homes: provided primarily by LPH providers, in vibrant (urban) housing markets Almost no initiatives of commercial developers Mismatch between demand and supply, due to constraints on available land resources Municipal housing: increasing targeting to vulnerable new entrants, but exclusion of non-natives and other groups?

Explaining policy change Role of new actors in the field of housing: In particular: emerging advocacy coalitions with linkages to regional governments responsible for housing subsidy policies Politicisation of policy “failure” By contrast: minor relevance of established actors (including the “social partners”)