HOUSINGWEL – Centre for Housing and Welfare Research

HOUSINGWEL aims to be a hub for research on housing and welfare in Norway.

HOUSINGWEL is a research center hosted by Norwegian Social Research (NOVA) on behalf of the Centre for Welfare and Labour Research (SVA) at OsloMet. The HOUSINGWEL centre is funded by the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, and the partners of the centre includes the Frisch Centre, the Institute for Social Research (ISF), Fafo, VID Specialized University, Nord University and Nordland Research Institute.

Centre goals

• High quality quantitative and qualitative research on the relationship between housing and other welfare outcomes at the individual and societal level.
• Dissemination of research-based knowledge and perspectives to the wider public.
• The education of new housing researchers at the graduate and post-graduate level.
• Strengthening the evidence base for the development of Norwegian housing policy.
• Establishing and maintaining a national network for all Norwegian housing researchers (with links to scholarly communities abroad).

Topics and research questions (2022-2024)

• The relationship between housing and other spheres of welfare: How does the housing situation of low-income groups affect outcomes in other spheres of welfare, including education and the labour market?
• The effects of government policies: What are the long-term effects of Norwegian housing policies at the individual and societal level?
• The rental market: What characterizes the housing standards and housing careers of long-term tenants? To what extent is the Norwegian rental market adapted to the needs and preferences of long-term tenants?
• The municipal social rental sector: What are the main challenges and dilemmas of the residual social rental sector in Norway? What are the main differences between social rental sectors across rural and urban Norway?