Nearly 4,200 of Norway’s 5.5 million residents were listed as officially homeless near the end of last year, according to the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR). More children are affected as well, but fewer youth under age 25 were homeless because of better cooperation between the Norwegian State Housing Bank (Husbanken) and Norwegian municipalities.
NIBR’s study has been conducted eight times, from 1996 to 2025, with Husbanken noting that homelessness was highest in Norway’s largest cities including Oslo, Bergen, trondheim and Stavanger. The state-owned Husbanken was founded in 1946 to help low-income residents enter the housing market through “start-loans” and support programs.
Homeless numbers remain low in Norway compared to many other countries, but the new numbers mark an increase for the first time since 2012 and in a challenging housing market plagued by the prospect of higher interest rates. The government minister in charge of local governments, Bjørnar Skjæran, called the rising homlessness “an extremely serious development,” noting that “we have a national goal that no one should be homeless.”
Skjæran hosted a meeting last week with various city officials to discuss the recent rise in homelessness and what can be done to turn it around. “Local governments won’t stand alone in this work,” Skjæran said. He said Husbanken can now “follow this up directly with the municipalities.”
NewsinEnglish.no staff
