Housing for students in Groningen in particular has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. But issues at the very top of the property ladder are one of the biggest reasons why many people across the north are struggling to find affordable housing even though the Dutch economy is booming.

Faculty of economics and business professor Dirk Bezemer, who is also a columnist for the progressive Dutch publication De Groene Amsterdammer, has been writing for years about how the housing market and private mortgage debt are intertwined, and he warns that the Netherlands is more susceptible to the next global economic shock than basically anywhere else in Europe because of how much private debt is held by homebuyers. In this interview for podcast Econ 050, a collaboration between Feb and the Northern Times, he explains his research.

You can hear the full episode here.