Bad landlords and vacant homes: how Utrecht is tackling the housing crisis

In many European cities, residents struggle to find affordable housing, whether it’s for rent or purchase. And paradoxically, at the same time, many cities register a growing number of real estate space that is empty and unused. How can we better match housing supply with demand? And how can public administrations regain control over the housing stock?

We asked Mr Dennis de Vries, who was our guest at the latest 15/15 Mayors Energy Talk organised by Energy Cities. Mr de Vries is Alderman of the City of Utrecht in The Netherlands and in charge of Housing and Real Estate. He works daily on the challenge of combining sufficiency and wellbeing of all inhabitants. Utrecht counts over 370,000 inhabitants and it is expected to grow by 20 % in the next 20 years. It has little land available for new developments and fewer social housing options than a few years ago. Tune in to hear Mr De Vries share hands-on insights and practical ideas to tackle the housing crisis head-on.

This episode was made possible thanks to funding from the French Agency for Ecological Transition ADEME.