Effect of density on house prices in the Randstad region

Increasing degree of urbanization has led to a greater pressure of densification in cities across the world. This underlines the pressing need for socially, economically and environmentally efficient spatial planning. It is believed that compact urban living would provide a desirable outcome in this direction. However, the lack of empirical evidence prevents a thorough investigation of the costs and benefits associated with compact urban living. This study contributes to the debate by measuring the impact of localized urban density and characteristics of urban form on house prices in the four largest cities of the Randstad region, namely, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Our results suggest a negative valuation for density, as measured by the floor space index, in Amsterdam and Rotterdam as opposed to a positive valuation in The Hague and especially Utrecht. To the contrary, the valuation for building height and open space appears to follows a reverse trend, and a preference for greater building height generally aligns with a preference for more open space in the neighborhood. Additionally, our results also indicate a preference for mixed land use in the neighborhood. Amongst the case study areas in this study, Amsterdam represents a high-rise and high density urban form while Utrecht represents a relatively low-rise and low density urban form. We believe that it is this difference in the urban character of cities coupled with heterogeneity in household preferences that leads to the contrasting price effects of density between them. Our results also hint at a sorting phenomenon based on differential preferences for urban design characteristics

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Particuliere woningbeleggers en toegankelijkheid van de woningmarkt : De casus Amsterdam

In november 2017 publiceerde het Parool op basis van eigen onderzoeksjournalistiek het volgende: ‘Amsterdamse woningmarkt in handen van het grote geld’. Meer precies: 21 particulieren bezitten meer dan honderd huizen (of bedrijfspanden) per persoon. De discussies die daarna volgden binnen de (sociale) media waren stevig van toon en bestreken vele onderwerpen. In deze notitie willen we de discussie ontwarren en de verschillende argumenten afzonderlijk tegen het licht houden. Ook willen we de discussie plaatsen binnen het bredere debat over de toegankelijkheid en betaalbaarheid van de woningmarkt

The Economics of Style: Measuring the Price Effect of Neo-Traditional Architecture in Housing

Vintage effects have received considerable attention from economists in the context of house prices. Although strongly related, the impact of architectural building styles on prices has not been studied yet. Using a cross-sectional hedonic price analysis including building styles of recently developed homes in the Netherlands we find a significant price premium for housing with neo-traditional architecture. Extensive intervention by local authorities on the supply side of the housing market seems the most probable explanation of this effect. The decreasing price premium over time reflects the impact of supply restrictions on price, but also indicates that style does matter

Home improvements in later life: competing policy goals and the practices of older Dutch homeowners

Dutch policy-making has been framed by simultaneous efforts aimed at reforming the social care system and initiating an ambitious sustainable retrofitting programme of housing. In these processes, the willingness and ability of older people, living in owner-occupied housing, to adapt and improve their home or move to a suitable dwelling are crucial. However, our understanding of how and why older people undertake home improvements, and how these practices intersect with policy agendas is still limited. In this paper we draw on a qualitative study with 33 older Dutch homeowner households, to understand how older people conceive home improvements and investments, and their motivations for pursuing them (or not). We find that home improvement as well as moves through and into homeownership are usually deeply connected with ideas of a good life. That may involve adapting to decreasing mobility and cognitive functions, closer relations with children and grandchildren, traveling and hobbies, comfort, and even luxury. However, these practices often lack the coherence implied by policymakers and include intricate considerations of physical, mental, social, and financial well-being

Rent increase strategies and distributive justice : the socio-spatial effects of rent control policy in Amsterdam

Rent controls and rent setting regulation in different contexts incorporate and balance different aims, in particular when securing affordability and the effective distribution of scarce housing by incorporating market mechanisms. As rent policy is frequently discussed in terms of affordability or market functioning in broad terms, small-scale distributive socio-spatial effects are often not regarded. In this paper, three strategies under the new rent sum policy are compared against the former policy and practice for Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to observe the effects of distributive justice. The new rent policy partly decentralizes rent increase decisions from the national level to local authorities and housing associations. Using microdata on all social housing units and their tenants’ distributive justice, outcomes under the former policy and practice are observed for a 6-year period (2008–2014) and the effects of three different rent increase strategies under the new rent sum policy are forecasted for the same period, combining an ex ante and an ex post evaluation. The possibilities for housing associations to vary rent increases for different groups of tenants in order to improve distributive justice outcomes are explored. Results show that all three possible strategies decrease the observed affordability gap between new and long-term tenants. Valuing the distributions of these strategies by applying two different standards for distributive justice shows the rent sum policy may only result in modest improvements

Waardering van de buitenruimte: Een analyse naar aanleiding van de Motie Koerhuis- Van Eijs

De kwaliteit van woningen en van de woonomgeving vergt continu aandacht van ruimtelijk beleid. Door toedoen van de coronapandemie, in het bijzonder de verschillende (lock-down) maatregelen om deze in te dammen, is er nog meer aandacht gekomen voor de buitenruimte van de woning. Mensen vertoefden immers noodgedwongen meer in en (direct) om de woning. Reeds voor corona liet woningbehoefteonderzoek (WoON) een afnemende waardering van de (private) buitenruimte zien. In 2002 was 76% tevreden, in 2018 61%. Deze studie richt zich op de vraag: waar komt dat door