Høsten 2011 holdt Husbanken en rundebordskonferanse i Oslo om emnet ”Housing affordability”, (Husstanders betalingsevne). Syv internasjonalt kjente forskere og fagpersoner fra Storbritannia, Nederland, Tsjekkia og Canada deltok. I tillegg deltok representanter for Kommunal- og regionaldepartementet, NOVA og Husbanken ved Strategikontoret. Øvrige spørsmål som ble diskutert var blant annet den norske eierlinjen og muligheter for å utvikle en ikke- kommersiell leiesektor i Norge.

Fra venstre: Duncan Maclennan, Hugo Priemus, Martin Lux, Mariann Jodis Blomli og Bjørn Pedersen.

Diskusjonen om betalingsevne er oppsummert av professor Christine Whitehead, London School of Economics:

”The agreed position in the discussion was that a residual measure should be used that leaves households with adequate income to purchase other necessities.  In some contexts price /income ratios may act as a reasonable surrogate especially when the measure of success relates to the individual households attitudes – (egg whether they feel under financial pressure). Whatever, it is important to be transparent about the exact definition of other needs and of housing costs that is to be used – especially in the context of owner-occupation. Sensitivity analysis and a clear understanding of how the measure fits within the more general regulatory and subsidy framework – and better to understand incidence in relation to household type as well as income.

There was considerable discussion around the details of affordability measures which tend to relate income to expenditure on housing and other goods leaving the question of what is being afforded to the regulators. A related question here is how to define appropriate housing standards – in terms of access to employment and services as well as the quality of the dwelling – which raise equally important issues as to the value of the housing to the individual and society – and therefore what is being afforded."

Fra venstre: Lord Best, Camilla Landsverk, Viggo Nordvik, Marietta Haffner, Christine Whitehead og Sharon Chisholm.

Deltakere:
Lord Best, Parliament, UK
Seniorrådgiver Mariann Jodis Blomli, Kommunal- og regionaldepartementet, Norge
Researcher Sharon Chisholm, University of St Andrews, Scotland
Dr. Marietta Haffner, OTB, TU Delft, Netherlands
Avdelingsdirektør Camilla Landsverk, Strategikontoret, Husbanken
Dr. Martin Lux, The Institute of Sociology, Czech Akademy of Science
Professor Duncan Maclennan, University of St Andrews, Scotland
Forskningssjef Viggo Nordvik, NOVA
Direktør Bjørn Pedersen, Strategikontoret, Husbanken
Professor Hugo Priemus, OTB, TU Delft, Netherlands
Professor Christine Whitehead, London School of Economics and Cambridge University, UK
Prosjektleder Per Åhrén, Husbanken 

Ytterligere informasjon om konferansen:
Per Åhrén, tel. 95251532
Per.ahren@husbanken.no