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In the second quarter of 2024, the median purchase price increased by a staggering 7.2%. This makes purchase prices 13.6% higher than in the second quarter of 2023. This sharp increase is partly to compensate for the very modest price increase in the first quarter of 2024. It is also due to the scarcity in the housing market, both of existing and new-build homes, scarcity in the labour market and the large number of vacancies in the construction industry. Besides the lack of sufficient supply of homes for sale, slightly lower mortgage interest rates and strong demand for housing have been driving the current increase in purchase prices.

Housing is back on the political agenda in many European countries. Many urgent housing problems need to be solved today. The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment is hosting and organising the ENHR congress in Delft on 26-30 August 2024. This congress focuses mainly on how these problems can be solved. The overall theme of this year's congress is therefore 'Making Housing Systems work: Evidence and Solutions.'

In 2023, 18,000 new-build owner-occupied houses will have been sold. This is half the number of sales in 2021. Housing production of owner-occupied houses remains a major concern, as production has been under considerable pressure for three years. Still, the new construction market seems to have reached its all-time low. In fact, during the year of 2023 a slight increase in the number of new houses sold was observed.

Confidence in the owner-occupied housing market among housing consumers has clearly increased over the past few months. Households appear to be less sceptical about developments in the owner-occupied housing market. The number of consumers with a negative opinion is almost in balance again with the number of positively mooded households.

Two projects in which faculty researchers are involved or are the main applicant have recently been awarded with funding. These are the CIVILIAN project on civic engagement and the Building 4 Belonging project on loneliness.

Recently, BK master's student Rik van den Bogaerdt won the Q-Park Student Award for his thesis on mobility hubs. A total of 75 students competed and out of 11 nominees, Rik's thesis 'Shared Mobility Hubs in Urban Developments' received the Student Award.

Purchase prices rose slightly again in the third quarter of 2023, but the number of mortgages closed, and the number of homes sold stabilized. Due to the enormous tightness in the owner-occupied housing market, the widening of the maximum borrowing capacity of households immediately leads to rising sales prices. As the supply of (newly built) owner-occupied homes will remain limited in the coming months as well, the purchase price development in the coming period will also depend heavily on the changes in maximum loan capacity.

The Netherlands is struggling with major issues in the areas of mobility, housing, sustainability and climate These major challenges result in multiple interests coming together in area development. Environmental and planning law are therefore in the spotlight. On 10 November 2023, Marlon Boeve will deliver her inaugural speech, "The Environment Act and Sustainable Urban Area Development. The Proof of the Pudding.'

It cannot have been missed by anyone, but the Dutch housing market is not doing well. Numerous problems are constantly in the headlines, a " building pause" because of nitrogen, stagnant construction due to a shortage of materials or skilled manpower. A stranded rental market, not enough social housing or the rising prices of owner-occupied homes due to scarcity and higher interest rates on mortgages. The problems are numerous and complex. How to find a way out of this? Professor Peter Boelhouwer wrote an essay.

Collaborative living is experiencing a revival in The Netherlands. In the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis, more and more people turn to collective self-organisation to provide housing that is community-oriented, environmentally sustainable, and affordable. But why is it so difficult for these initiatives to get off the ground? And what can be learned from other European countries?