Social Housing as a Transitional Tenure? Reflections on the Netherlands' New Housing Memorandum 2000-2010

This contribution gives some reflections on the Netherlands' New Housing Memorandum 2000-2010, which was published on 15 May 2000. This Housing Memorandum urges the housing corporations (the social housing organisations which own 37 per cent of the housing stock) to sell 500 000 dwellings in 10 years. This seems to confirm Harloe's assertion that social housing in Europe is only a transitional tenure. Even in the Netherlands-champion of social rented housing within the European Union-the owner occupied sector would seem destined to marginalise the social rented sector in the long run. This paper argues that the housing corporations, being private, independent social entrepreneurs, will be only partially inclined to take the political message of the Housing Memorandum to heart. It is expected that the Dutch social rented sector will remain a differentiated sector and continue to blossom alongside home ownership. Harloe's theory will, in short, not be confirmed by the housing developments in the Netherlands.     

POLICY REVIEW The Impact of Housing Policy Changes on Housing Associations: Experiences in the Netherlands

For decades, housing associations in the Netherlands were the country's landlords of social rented housing par excellence. Presently housing associations own and administer over 90 per cent of the social rented stock, which now comprises 37 per cent of the total Dutch housing stock. The changes in Dutch housing policy which were made from 1993 onwards, have also changed the role and position of the housing associations. The financial ties binding the social housing sector and the national government have largely been dissolved. Responsibility for adequate housing was decentralised from the central government to the local authorities. Municipalities and housing associations have developed a new tradition of performance agreements on local housing policy. This paper reviews the response of housing associations to the circumstances created by the new housing policy of the 1990s.     

The future of Dutch housing associations

This paper discusses the future of the social rented sector in the Netherlands. There are several reasons why the position of this sector is currently under close scrutiny. Whereas attention to social rented housing had lapsed by the start of this century, the growing housing shortage and stagnation in the restructuring of older urban areas brought this sector back into the political spotlight. Also the European Commission is having a major impact on the future position of the sector. The Commission has ordered the Dutch Government to establish a level playing field by abolishing the privileges of the housing associations. Against this background, this paper discusses the possible tasks and proper functioning of the Dutch housing associations.     

Demise of the Dutch social housing tradition: impact of budget cuts and political changes

At the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008, the Dutch housing associations were in the position to perform a kind of anti-cyclical housing production that could save, at least partially, the total housing production in the Netherlands. In this contribution, we give insight into the way the housing associations managed to fulfil this specific task and more in general if the associations managed to strengthen their position since the economic crisis. After presenting the development and the main characteristics of the Dutch social rented sector, we give an overview of the general economy of the Netherlands since 2008, which suffers from the global credit crunch, followed by the debt crisis and the Euro crisis. Because of the strong international relations and the big size of the Dutch banking sector, the Netherlands appears to be very vulnerable for international financial problems. In the aftermath of the credit crunch, the Dutch government decided to give priority to a sound public budget and announced in 2010 and 2012 huge budget cuts. The rented sector was already faced with drastic reforms and huge budget cuts by the start of the Rutte I Cabinet in 2010. These policies are described and analysed. The increased impopularity of housing associations explains that these social housing providers were extremely hit by additional budget cuts. For the housing associations, the situation is threatening. The Rutte I and Rutte II Cabinets seem not to be aware of the rich tradition of the Dutch social housing sector and want to reduce the size of the social rented sector (now: 31 %) substantially. This contribution argues that there is the danger now that the austerity measures of the current government (Rutte II) will lead to the demise of the Dutch social housing tradition, although the housing associations could be a part of the solution for alleviating the current problems on the housing and construction market.     

荷兰的社会住宅：明确的传统与未知的将来

在荷兰,社会（公有）出租的住房的比重占到了35％——是欧盟范围内这一比例最高的国家。这一部门是在1901年住房法确立的公共框架下由独立经营的住房协会所主导的。本文阐述了住房协会在1995年“总收益与收支平衡实施办法”执行前后的历史渊源和发展变化。自从这一办法实施以来,住房协会不再扶政府接受实物补贴。但是．它们却变得愈加富有。这一点将会影响住房协会的社会形象。由于结合了社会与市场行为,在坚实的公共框架下运作、并经营高品质多样化的住宅,荷兰的社会住宅可为其他欧盟国家、俄罗斯和中国提供借鉴。     

Promoting home ownership in a social‐rented city: policies,practices and pitfalls

Amsterdam's housing market is dominated by the social‐rented sector. It comprises 56 per cent of the total housing stock, while home ownership comprises only 19 per cent, lower than anywhere else in the Netherlands, and among the lowest in the world. Central government policy is currently seeking to increase the share of home ownership in the Netherlands from 53 per cent (2001) to 65 per cent in 2010. This paper will summarise recent national and local (Amsterdam) housing policy developments, focusing on the recent practice of selling social housing in Amsterdam. Unlike the Right to Buy scheme in Britain, the Netherlands employs an ‘offer to buy’ strategy. Sales, however, have been disappointing so far. Two factors were found to be crucial in this regard: (1) the sluggish change in ‘policy mentality’ and bureaucracy and (2) the high prices in the home ownership market. By way of conclusion, the paper reflects on the desirability of shifting the tenure structure from tenancy to ownership and on the risks that an (over‐) emphasis on home ownership may bring.     

Portfolio Management in the Social Rented Sector: Valuation,Risk Analysis and Strategy Development

The financial aspects of social housing management are becoming more important for housing associations in Western Europe, due to changes in their economic and institutional context. As part of a trend towards the privatisation and decentralisation of public services, housing associations are becoming more self-reliant. Government financial support is decreasing and parts of the housing market are changing in response to low demand. To ensure that housing associations run an economic, efficient and financially sound business, knowledge of the financial performance of their stock is becoming more important for their investment policy. In the Netherlands, these general changes in housing policy, management and market have been a prominent feature of the last decade, and have resulted in a variety of responses under the general heading of asset and portfolio management. This paper describes methods for valuation, risk analysis and portfolio management for housing associations. The paper sets out the context within which Dutch housing associations operate. Existing methods for valuation and risk analysis are evaluated for their applicability to social landlords. These methods are placed within the business planning process to show how the methods can be used to inform asset management strategy. Finally the paper reflects on the implications for practice in social housing management.     

Housing Associations and Housing Policy in Britain Since 1989

Important changes in the pattern of new building, investment and ownership of social rented housing in Britain in the period since 1989 can be seen as moves towards a more European style of provision. Similarly, reductions in general subsidy and a switch to greater reliance on personal income related forms of assistance with housing costs are consistent with developmentselsewhere, as is concern to contain public expenditure by placing more emphasis on private finance. The themes of the paper are the growth and transformation of housing associations in Britain. The importance of stock transfers from local authorities has grown to the point where they have become the major source of growth, and it is argued that within the foreseeable future the majority of the social rented sector may be owned by housing associations or other registered social landlords. The paper looks at finance, development and governance issues, concluding that housing associations have been drawn into an ever closer relationship with the state.     

The Uneven Development of 'Social Rented Housing': Explaining the Historically Marginal Position of Housing Associations in Britain

The first part of this paper is concerned with rethinking the notion of social rented housing, arguing that it is appropriate to refer to a dual social rented sector, both now and in the past, and to set municipal and non-municipal models of provision alongside the dominant consumption side models of mass and residual social housing. The idea of uneven development of social rented housing in Britain refers to the numerical dominance of local authority provision, and the insignificant quantitative contribution of housing associations and their predecessors until the last years of the 20th century. The second part of the paper poses the question of why the voluntary sector failed to thrive after 1918, and examines some historical evidence from four key periods up to the early 1960s. It is argued that the poor performance of these organisations immediately after 1918 led to them failing to overcome local authority opposition and civil service scepticism in the 1930s.     

寻求社会公正与融合的可持续途径:荷兰社会住宅的发展与现状

作为世界上住房保障制度最为完善的国家之一,荷兰自20世纪初期以来长期重视社会住宅,即公有出租的保障性住房的规划和建设,将其作为解决城市住房问题、促进社会公正的主要方式,并根据社会经济背景的变化对其发展政策和策略进行合理的调整.与此同时,荷兰也已将社会住宅的规划建设作为解决社会问题,特别是克服不同收入阶层与种族间的居住空间隔离问题,促进社会融合的重要手段之一.本文将结合政策与实例分析对荷兰社会住宅发展进行具体探讨,以期对我国目前的保障性住房规划建设提供借鉴.     

Displaced but still Moving Upwards in the Housing Career? Implications of Forced Residential Relocation in the Netherlands

The housing stock is being restructured in many Dutch post-war neighbourhoods. Through demolition and upgrading of social rented housing and the construction of new owner occupied dwellings, the housing stock and the living environment are being improved. This policy has triggered major residential moves in and beyond some neighbourhoods, partly involuntary. Residents whose dwelling is being demolished or heavily upgraded, are usually forced to move elsewhere. Knowledge of the social implications of forced relocation in the Netherlands is limited, especially on experiences and opinions of relocated households. This paper covers research in two recently restructured neighbourhoods. Movers were recruited to share their experiences and opinions in focus groups and interviews. Surprisingly, many movers were able to improve their housing situation, mostly due to their priority rights in the housing market. However, movers who were less able to take advantage of these rights reported a certain degree of degradation. Moreover, it appears that relocation processes must still be improved in order to reduce stress and refine communication with residents.     

Identifying Distributive Injustice Through Housing (Mis)Match Analysis: The Case of Social Housing in Amsterdam

In this paper, an analytical model for measuring match and mismatch between social housing units and their tenants is presented and applied to the social rented housing sector of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Through the use of a large set of unique micro-data combining housing unit and household characteristics, mismatches on two key dimensions of physical adequacy and affordability and for different household types and parts of the city can be revealed. Empirically assessing the (mis)match of social housing units at a small scale – where socio and spatial (mis)matches manifest – creates opportunities for innovation in the analysis of effects of market mechanisms and local housing allocation policies. An improved understanding of these mismatches based on a strong empirical base can be related to and evaluated against different principles of distributive justice. The findings for the case of Amsterdam show that the famous large social housing stock incorporates significant mismatches. Households in the least popular parts of the city comparatively do not live affordably and large inequities exist between households based on length of residence. These findings offer a basis for further exploration of the complex of housing allocation, changing housing distributions and the resulting outcomes in terms of distributive justice.     

Regeneration of Dutch post-war urban districts: the role of housing associations

In the Netherlands the regeneration of post-war urban districts is closely intertwined with the role of housing associations. This is hardly surprising, given that the housing associations have such a large share of the market (usually over 50%; sometimes nearly 100%) in many early post-war urban districts. This has caused a growing concentration of low-income households in those urban areas and a selective migration by middle- and high-income households from the city to the suburb. Official government policy on housing and urban renewal is directed at a redifferentiation of the urban housing stock. Specifically, the policy promotes more owner-occupation, larger and higher-quality homes, and a greater percentage of homes with a garden. This implies the demolition of social housing estates and selling social housing. The position of housing associations in the regeneration of Dutch post-war urban districts is somewhat enigmatic. On the one hand, national government is expecting them to take initiative and invest in urban renewal; on the other, government is urging them to cut down their market share. How are housing associations coping with this paradoxical challenge? And what are the current national policies about the position of housing associations? Aedes (the umbrella organisation of Dutch housing associations) and the Dutch Ministry of Housing have agreed upon the so-called great transition of housing associations. Here we explain and critique this great transition, which will hamper the current regeneration of Dutch urban districts. As an alternative we present the new transition.     

Multi‐family housing in the social rental sector and the changing Dutch housing market

The social rental sector has become a major segment of the housing market in the Netherlands (forming 44 per cent of the stock in 1988). Until recently, its management by non‐profit housing associations and municipalities posed no major problems: the stock was relatively new, the general housing shortage was severe, and middle‐income groups accounted for a substantial share of the tenants of social rental housing. This situation has changed; especially the older multi‐family housing in the cities has slipped into a lower position in the urban housing hierarchy, and lower‐income households predominate in this type of housing. At the same time, part of the older stock is in need of renovation. This article reports on interviews with managers of non‐profit housing associations about their strategies to keep the housing in good shape and to find tenants. It also reports on interviews with tenants in newly renovated housing complexes.     

Segregation and Marginalisation within Public Housing: The Disadvantaged in Bedok New Town,Singapore

This paper examines segregation within public housing in Bedok New Town, Singapore. The highly structured and regulated public housing sector, accommodating 86 per cent of the total Singapore population, provides an interesting look at the issue of 'choice' and 'constraint', and their implications for segregation. Using the index of dissimilarity to measure evenness of distribution and the P* index to measure social interaction and isolation, the data show that lower-income members of Indian ethnic background had become more segregated between 1980 and 1990. The eligibility criteria and allocation procedures pertaining to public housing help channel certain groups of residents into a narrow array of housing types in strictly defined locations. Particular socio-demographic features of lower-income Indians, coupled with their numerical inferiority, leads to a weak position within the housing market. The issue of constrained choice is especially relevant for this group of public housing residents.     

Self-esteem and Social Motivation in Age-segregated Settings

This paper is concerned with daily life and social negotiation within sheltered housing. The focus of research was to explore tenants' social interactions as older people and as members of a small community, in order to understand better how such settings affect quality of life and environmental meaning in later life. Research took place in three similar sized London schemes, all within the social rented sector. One scheme is managed by a local authority housing department, the other two by different housing associations. Analysis reveals that sheltered housing has significant social consequences in respect of tenants' experiences of this setting as a communal, age-segregated environment. In particular, exploration of the subject of self-esteem in respect to these aspects of the environment highlights both positive and negative features of social life in sheltered housing. Conclusions are reached that in evaluating this form of housing, and any such provision set up exclusively for older people, researchers and providers must pay greater attention to the subject of social interaction, and its benefits and challenges to older people.     

The different faces of private rented housing

The relation between public policy and the private rented sector is usually unclear. The private rented sector often suffers from public policy, although private landlords mostly enjoy fiscal advantages as well. In many European countries, private renting housing has been losing ground. Nevertheless, private rented housing fulfils a number of useful functions in the housing market: as a tenure for urban starters; for the elderly; and for a mobile, well-to-do segment of the population engaged in flexible labour markets. The main lines of seven country profiles are sketched here: (West) Germany, England, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Canada and the United States. In his comparative contribution at the end of this special issue, Maclennan points out that the private rented sector has indeed declined in many European countries. But he also shows that in countries like the USA, Germany and Sweden the sector has had a broadly constant share since about 1980. In the future, private rented housing will remain an attractive sector, at least for those who are unable to afford owner-occupied housing and those unable to gain access to social housing. Hugo Priemus holds the chair in housing at Delft University of Technology and he is managing director of OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies. Duncan Maclennan is McTaggart professor at the Centre for Housing Research and Urban Studies, University of Glasgow, Great Britain.     

The changing role of the Dutch social rented sector

The article traces the evolution of the research interests of Dieleman, an academic who combined the development of analytical models with explorations of the policy implications of the changing structure of housing markets. During his long career as a professor of geography, he championed international cooperation in research and played a major role in disseminating the results of Dutch academic studies to an international audience. His own work was concentrated on the analysis of residential mobility. But much of that work also revealed his interest in applying scholarly insights to policy issues. Throughout his career he showed a deep commitment to improving the functioning of the social rented sector in the Dutch housing market. After reviewing some of Dieleman’s major contributions to the understanding of the housing market, the article follows in his footsteps by analyzing the current use of social rented housing. In this way, this article provides an update on his field of interest based on recent survey data that underlines the validity of his insights.     

瑞士住宅的当今主题

个性化的需要 瑞士是一个以租用居所著称的国家。不到三分之一的人口有自己的房子。而在城市里，也只是一小部分人拥有自己的住宅。因而多层住宅形成了广泛的基础类住宅。很长时间以来一直如此。绝大多数出租公寓的主人都是个人。只有在有卫星城的大都市里，住宅协会，退休基金组织和在股票交易所上市的财团企业才有可能提供大量的住房。     

European Competition Policy and National Housing Policies: International Implications of the Dutch Case

This contribution explores the relationship between housing policy, which is the responsibility of national governments, and competition policy, including the decision on the legitimacy of state support, which is the responsibility of the European Commission (EC). The paper paints a general picture of EU policy on competition and state support and describes the Dutch social housing system. Attention then turns to the recent intervention by the European Commission in the governance of Dutch social housing and it is asked whether the factors that prompted the intervention exist in other EU member states as well. The analysis shows that this is indeed the case. It is concluded that the intervention of the EC in the Netherlands could become a precedent for other European countries, particularly for those countries that opt against a residualised social rented sector and for a competitive role of social housing providers on the housing market.