Paper short abstract:

Housing access for young people is one of the various uncertainties and difficulties that characterise the contemporary world and many European cities. Inspired by the case of Lisbon, the potential gap between housing aspirations and expectations and ways of living will be explored.

Paper long abstract:

Difficulty in accessing housing is one of the main problems faced by young people in their life transitions, causing subsequent instability, either due to the housing market constraints (unaffordable prices both in home ownership and renting) or to the constraints of precarious jobs and low incomes. In Lisbon, it is particularly difficult leaving the parental home, not only because of the escalating housing prices but also due to the consequences of this reality on young people's autonomy, life transitions and family expectations.

The growing instability in young people's housing pathways and the diversification of new residential solutions and preferences they have adopted require a critical glance at the new housing solutions. In an unaffordable city like Lisbon, it is important to understand the several strategies adopted by young people to circumvent housing access and correlated problems and gain more independence in this transitional phase.

New urban and residential practices and values held by younger people (e.g. co-housing, home sharing, peripheral relocations) may be observed, as well as various impacts on their lifestyles, modes of residential appropriation and domestic experiences. The architectural constraints caused by dwellings being inadequate for the new ways of living are also worthy of analysis.

Based on in-depth interviews, the goal of this communication is to illustrate the daily domestic life of several young people sharing a house in Lisbon, having as a focus the potential gap between aspirations and expectations concerning housing and ways of living.