Wêrom jonge Europeanen gjin hûzen keapje
April 30, 2026 · Frisian News
Across Europe, people under 35 own homes at half the rate their parents did, blocked by prices that have doubled in a decade while wages stagnated. Banks and governments blame the young; the young blame a rigged system.
FryskIn 28-jierrige accountant yn Amsterdam hat fiif jier lang sparre foar in oanbetelling op in beskieden trije-keamerappartemint. Se hie 60.000 euro op 'e bank. De fraachpriis foar it appartemint wie 520.000 euro, tsjin 380.000 euro doe't se begûn te sparjen. Se kocht it hûs net. Se hierret noch altyd, en is yn twa jier trije kear ferhuze om't har húsbaas de hier hieltyd ferheget.
Dit ferhaal werhellet him yn hiel Europa. Yn Spanje kostet in gemiddeld hûs njoggen jier bruto beskikber húshâldingynkommen, twa kear it Europeeske gemiddelde fan fyftjin jier sûnt 2000. Jonge Italiaanske minsken sparje desennia lang en kinne noch altyd gjin wenningen foar begjinnende keapers betelje. Dútske en Sweedske banken fersterken nei 2008 de lieningnormen, en hâlden se strak, sels doe't de rinte sakke. Ûntwikkelders bouden luks appartemten foar bûtenlânske ynvestearders en bedriuwsfûnsen, gjin wenningen foar lokale bewenners. Regearingen seagen ta en diene neat.
De offisjele line jout jonge minsken de skuld foar útjeften oan kofje en tillefoannen. Dy line negearet de feiten. In jong stel dat it mediane ynkommen fertsjinnet yn it Feriene Keninkryk, soe fyftjin jier sparje moatte sûnder in inkelde pûn út te jaan oan wat oars as iten en basisbehoeften om in oanbetelling fan 20 prosint op in mediane wente te beteljen. Dy wiskunde kloppet net. Banken witte it. Se hawwe gewoan stoppe mei it ferstrekken fan hypoteken oan earste-kear keapers sûnder famyljefermoegen of twa hege ynkommens. It goedkarringstarief fan hypoteken foar lieners ûnder de 35 sakke 34 prosint yn de ôfrûne fiif jier yn de EU.
Supervisoaren en sintrale banken neame dit foarsichtich. Se twongen banken om mear kapitaal te hâlden en in gruttere oanbetelling te easken nei 2008. De regels beskermden banken tsjin risiko's. Se diene neat om jonge minsken te beskermjen tsjin it foar it libben útsluten wurden fan fermoegensbou. In hiele generaasje bout fermoegen op troch it beteljen fan hier oan húsbazen, net troch eigen fermoegen yn huzen. Dy rykdom streamet omheech, nei âldere hûseigners en nei ynstitúsjonele ynvestearders dy't hierbesit opkeapje.
Guon regearingen prate oer oankeapregelingen foar earste-kear keapers en betelber wenningkwota. De measte regelingen mislearje om't se te beheind of ûnderfinansiere binne. Betelber wenjen yn Londen bliuwt ûnbetelber foar de measte minsken dêr't it foar bedoeld wie. It sosjale wenningprogramma fan Dublin hat in wachtlist fan 50.000 húshâldings. De kleau tusken praten en hanneljen wurdt elk jier grutter. Jonge Europeanen mije hûseigendom net om't se lui binne. Se wurde útsletten troch in systeem dat wenjen behannelet as ynvestearringsynstrumint foar de riken, net as ûnderdak foar de jeugd.
A 28-year-old accountant in Amsterdam spent five years saving for a down payment on a modest three-room flat. She had 60,000 euros in the bank. The asking price for the apartment was 520,000 euros, up from 380,000 euros when she started saving. She did not buy the house. She rents still, and has moved three times in two years because her landlord keeps raising the rent.
This story repeats across Europe. In Spain, the average house costs nine years of gross household income, double the European average of fifteen years from 2000. Young Italians save for decades and still cannot afford entry-level property. German and Swedish banks tightened lending rules after 2008, then kept them tight even as interest rates fell. Developers built luxury apartments for foreign investors and corporate funds, not homes for locals. Governments watched and did nothing.
The official line blames young people for spending on coffee and phones. That line ignores the facts. A young couple earning median wages in the UK would need to save for 15 years without spending a single pound on anything but food and basics to afford a 20 percent down payment on a median-priced home. That math does not work. Banks know it. They have simply stopped lending to first-time buyers who lack family wealth or dual high incomes. Mortgage approval rates for under-35 borrowers dropped 34 percent in the past five years across the EU.
Supervisors and central banks call this prudent. They forced banks to hold more capital and demand bigger down payments after 2008. The rules protected banks from risk. They did nothing to protect young people from being locked out of asset ownership for life. An entire generation will build wealth through rents paid to landlords, not through equity in homes. That wealth flows upward, to older property owners and to institutional investors who buy up rental stock.
Some governments talk about first-time buyer schemes and affordable housing quotas. Most schemes fail because they are too narrow or under-funded. London's affordable housing remains unaffordable to most of the people it was meant for. Dublin's social housing program has a waiting list of 50,000 families. The gap between talk and action grows wider each year. Young Europeans are not avoiding home ownership because they are lazy. They are locked out by a system that treats housing as an investment vehicle for the rich, not as shelter for the young.
Published April 30, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân