Master student wins BZK thesis prize on rental housing for middle-income households

With her thesis on investments in rental housing for middle-income households Ana Luiza Barros has won the yearly BZK thesis prize of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). Her thesis is about the possibilities of institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies, to invest more in rental housing for the middle class in the Netherlands.

She gives several recommendations to both investors and municipalities, to increase the supply of these houses. The jury praised Ana Luiza Barros, among other things, for the way she peeled back the many layers of the complex problem, such as the trust between parties involved in the realisation of these houses.

Ana: "I find the housing market interesting. That's why I went looking for problems that are at play there. There is a shortage of rental housing for middle-income households, lots of demand and little supply. I was curious what the parties involved can do to change that.”

More information

• Ana Luisa Barros' graduation supervisors were Professor Peter Boelhouwer and researcher Ilir Nase.
• Read the full report on the website of BZK.
• Also read the two-way conversation between Ana and the Housing Market Director of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.