BACK TO SCHOOL WITH… ANDREA PRINS #3
SESSION #3 - HOUSING ILLITERACY
The last in a series of three evenings about social housing, with Andrea Prins and Nicolas Bernard. Taking place on 04 March 2025, 19:00 - 21:00. Doors open and dinner served at 18:00. Get your tickets here
Tickets cost 17,50 euro and include a simple dinner.
Affordable homes for all? Social Housing between crisis and creativity
After being ignored for a long time, the lack of affordable, social housing in the Netherlands has become ubiquitous. In the current debate, most of the attention is focused on numbers: too few homes are being built compared to what should be needed. High construction costs are used as an argument to make social housing seem like an unprofitable investment. Moreover, there is a maze of rules that people must navigate to qualify for social housing. This narrowing perspective on numbers and regulations, overlooks something important: the resident and the experience of habitation itself. As a result, many (young) people do not even consider living in a social project. Not only is social housing discouragingly scarce, it also suffers from a negative image. In this series we discuss these issues from different perspectives. What do decent spatial floor plans look like? What do decent spatial floor plans look like? What could, and should, the term “social” encompass? And why do we know so little about alternatives to home ownership?
HOUSING ILLITERACY
The financialization of housing has been no accident – it has been a deliberate process. Many benefit from it: the government by creating a (conservative) population attached to home ownership, the construction industry which has consolidated its power position, and homeowners because of the substantial subsidies and the increasing value of their property. But the financialization of housing has also led to increasing housing inequality, making it inaccessible to an increasing number of people. Part of this also has to do with a knowledge deficit: people think that home ownership is the only housing solution - even if buying only brings misery. Call it housing illiteracy.
On this evening, we will discuss alternatives to ownership and explore what can be done about this illiteracy together with housing law specialist Nicolas Bernard. In his talk he will address question such as: Why does property hold such fascination today? What explains why housing assistance policies (at least in Belgium) are so heavily focused on homeownership? What values does this promotion of property convey? What are the benefits, but also the unintended consequences, of this policy? And, most importantly, are there alternatives—perhaps more social, less costly for the community, more collective, and more ecological—to private, individual, and perpetual ownership? The Community Land Trust is one such solution, but it is not the only one. Ultimately, how can we rethink our approach to property without falling into collectivism?
About the speakers
Nicolas Bernard
Holder of a PhD in Law and a Master's degree in Philosophy, Nicolas Bernard is a professor of law at Université catholique de Louvain (Saint-Louis Bruxelles), where he serves as dean of the faculty. He is a specialist in housing law and property law and has published numerous works on the subject. He has also worked as an independent expert in several ministerial cabinets for ten years.
Andrea Prins
Andrea Prins is an independent Rotterdam-based researcher, essayist and academic lecturer. She investigates and writes about spatiality and the impact of spatial decisions made explicitly or implicitly by politicians, economists and planners on people’s life. Before starting her independent practice, Andrea worked as an architect, architectural historian, and business manager in the Netherlands and Germany. In 2021 she published her book Wonen, rooted in embodied field research and critical analysis of floor plan typologies.
Programme 04 March 2025
18:00 - 19:00 Doors open and dinner served
19:00 – 19:20 Introduction by Andrea Prins
19:20 – 20:15 Presentation by Nicolas Bernard
20:15 – 20:35 Presentation by second speaker
20:35 – 21:00 Conversation with speakers and audience
21:00 Drinks at the bar
Back to School with... is a lecture series for which the School invites a professional guest to curate a lecture programme around one topic or question that has their urgent and great interest at this moment and to bring together different speakers to elaborate on the subject in three consecutive evening events. This event is the 1st in a series about social housing, curated by Andrea Prins. More info here