More than half of Dutch households are living in homes that can be considered “too big”, according to urban geographer Cody Hochstenbach.

If people could be encouraged to move to smaller homes, it would help ease the housing shortage, Hochstenbach says in research published by economics journal ESB.

Phasing out mortgage tax relief, which the new government has decided not to do, would also encourage people to live in smaller homes, he said.

According to European statistics bureau Eurostat, the average Dutch household lives in 131 square metres, compared with 100 square metres in Italy and France. Using Hochstenbach’s calculations, 55% of Dutch households have more space than they need.

A couple living in 100 square metres would also fall under the definition of having more room than they actually need.

One option to encourage more people to share homes would be to stop cutting the social security benefits of people who share a home because they are considered to be a “couple”.

“We should be encouraging people to live together,” Delft University professor Marja Elsinga told the Financieele Dagblad. “Now, for example, students get housing benefit but two adults sharing a property don’t.”

The new coalition government plans to make better use of existing housing by making it easier to divide large houses into smaller units. Experts have also urged officials to do more to encourage older people to move out of large family homes into smaller, age-appropriate properties.

Another key issue is social housing, where 31% of tenants live in apartments and houses that are too big for them.