How much living space do we actually need? How can existing housing better be distributed, adapted or shared? Particularly in high-demand urban areas, housing is scarce and expensive, while at the same time space is used in a socially unbalanced way – through overcrowding or very large homes with only a few occupants – or even left vacant.
Housing sufficiency solutions can help address this issue by combining ecological goals, such as reducing land consumption, with social objectives, such as increasing the availability of affordable living. Possible approaches include:
- Home-swapping programmes that make it easier to move into more suitable homes
- Promoting shared living arrangements, such as shared flats or multi-generational housing
- Flexible floor plans that can be adapted to changing life circumstances
- Conversions and the division of large flats into smaller units
For such solutions to be effective, targeted incentives are needed. Funding programmes, grants, tax relief, and bonuses can encourage households to use living space in a way that better reflects their needs. Advisory and brokerage services could also help facilitate moves, conversions or subletting. That means, a nationwide, long-term strategy is required that firmly embeds housing sufficiency as a housing policy objective – supported by clear indicators such as a living space per capita or vacancy rates. At the same time, funding policy and urban planning need to be more closely aligned.
Göttingen provides a good example: Here, a housing agency offers free advice on all aspects of housing. This includes support for adapting homes, relocating or developing shared living arrangements. The aim is to make better use of existing space and to find tailored solutions. The OptiWohn project is also developing strategies to use living space in existing neighbourhoods more efficiently – for example through home-swapping models, new forms of housing, flexible layouts and approaches to densification within the existing building stock. The findings are intended to benefit, in particular, local authorities, the housing sector, urban planners and political decision-makers.
Housing sufficiency is a key lever for increasing the supply of affordable housing – especially within the existing building stock. It does not start with new-builds, but with the intelligent use of what is really there. To unlock this potential, clear policy frameworks, incentives and greater visibility for alternative forms of living are essential.