The government's housing policy is failing vulnerable youth

Researcher Lea Louise Videt. Photo: Marta Anna Løvberg

– The role of housing in preventing exclusion is both underestimated and downgraded, says Lea Louise Videt in Nordland Research Institute .

The government has set high goals to include all young people in society and prevent exclusion. The Zero Vision for Youth Exclusion, launched this spring, will be a ten-year initiative with broad political consensus.

– In 2024, the government also presented a new strategy for child welfare institutions. Here, the government expressed a desire for more children who cannot live at home to receive help in municipal housing measures, says Videt, who is a researcher at Nordland Research Institute .  

In the white paper called "Bustadmeldinga", which came out last year, the government also announced measures for a better rental market and increased efforts for those who are unable to obtain or keep suitable housing themselves.

– There is no lack of ambition on the part of the government, but in practice there is much that remains before the goals can be achieved, says Videt. 

A well-functioning measure

Through the ongoing research project Housyoung, Videt and her colleagues are investigating how municipal housing measures can support young people aged 16–24 in their transition to adulthood. The focus is particularly on the so-called Foyer model, an offer that combines housing with close follow-up and is provided to young people who often lack parental support and need help with everything from paying bills to writing job applications. 

“Foyer gives them a secure base and practical support in everyday life. Several northern Norwegian municipalities have introduced the model,” says Videt. 

– The goal is for the young people to become independent enough to move out into their own apartment after three years, while still being in education or work.

Preliminary findings in the research project indicate that the measure works well and is consistent with the government's strategies within both child welfare and social housing. 

– The municipalities that have introduced Foyer report positive results, both for the young people and for the municipality's economy. The municipalities themselves have calculated that the measure can potentially save society costs by preventing institutional placements and homelessness, says Videt. 

However, not all municipalities offer municipal housing measures for young people.

A blind spot in the welfare state

The offer is not required by law, and the municipalities are struggling with poor finances and a lack of suitable housing. Several of the young people the researchers have interviewed so far say they are ashamed of living in dilapidated municipal apartments.

– When young people say that it feels unworthy to live in municipal housing, it says something about how far we have left, says Videt. 

– In a welfare state as comprehensive as the Norwegian one, the housing sector remains a blind spot.  

In municipalities that want to establish housing initiatives like Foyer, the main challenge is a lack of municipal housing and an economy that makes it difficult to build new ones. State subsidies for municipal rental housing were removed in 2024, and despite a majority in the Storting asking the government to reinstate the scheme, the government has chosen to ignore this in the proposal for a new state budget for 2026. 

The researchers believe that this downgrading prevents municipalities from offering suitable housing to those who need it most. 

– The government's strategies look good on paper, but without the necessary instruments, they remain just fine words, says Videt.

Failed housing policy

Videt points out that young people who need transitional housing with extra support are just one of several groups affected by a housing policy where ambitions are not followed up with measures. Vulnerable families with children also suffer from the lack of good municipal housing.

“It is simply too bad that there is no offer for those who do not have the resources to acquire their own home,” says Videt. “Or that many of the homes that do exist have an unworthy low standard.” 

The researchers at Housyoung hope that the findings from the project can help focus attention on the importance of housing in preventing exclusion. 

– If the government truly wants to include all children and young people, housing policy cannot be downgraded, says Videt.