%0 Thesis
%9 Master
%A Lute, C
%D 2024
%F theses_frw:4730
%P 57
%T Financial family assistance for housing and housing consumption: Insights from the 2021 Netherlands’ Housing Survey
%U https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/4730/
%X As the family home is often a household’s most expensive acquisition, understanding factors impacting the housing consumption patterns is crucial. Therefore, this study examines the association between financial family assistance for housing and housing consumption in the Netherlands, building on the economic principle that an increase in budget leads to higher (housing) consumption. While previous research has examined the effects of more general forms of financial assistance on housing consumption, the specific influence of e.g. family-assisted mortgages remained underexplored. This study addresses this gap using empirical analyses, revealing a significant and positive association: family-assisted mortgages and tax-free gifts are associated with a 2.12% and 4.70% increase in housing consumption, respectively. For younger households, the benefits from family assistance on housing consumption are larger (4.39%) compared to older households (1.82%). These findings underscore the importance of financial family assistance in shaping housing consumption patterns and offer a valuable reflection and addition to the life-cycle model, based on age-related dynamics. Policymakers should consider these insights when designing measures to ‘provide equal housing opportunities’, particularly for younger and first-time buyers. Future research could further explore these relationships, e.g. embedded in different national contexts or with more detailed data on the assistance volume.