Nico Nieboer

Strategic asset management in the social rented sector: Approaches of Dutch and English housing associations

In England and the Netherlands, in response to changes in housing policy and the market, there is widespread enthusiasm for asset management in the social rented sector. A key issue in both countries is the development of a strategic approach towards the formulation of asset management plans. The paper examines this issue in relation to the current practice of housing associations in both countries. Drawing on case studies in England and the Netherlands, it is concluded that in both countries practice varies widely between housing associations. Some of the approaches adopted by front-runners can be seen as models for other associations yet to develop a strategic approach towards asset management. Lessons can also be learnt across national boundaries, though necessarily mediated by differences between the two housing systems.

Government Regulation and Market Orientation in the Management of Social Housing Assets: Limitations and Opportunities for European and Australian Landlords

ABSTRACT In the past ten to 20 years, governments in various countries have introduced or reinforced market principles in their housing systems. As a consequence, social landlords should have increased opportunities to adopt a more market-oriented approach towards the management of their housing stock. Nevertheless, in many countries governments still have a substantial influence on the social rented housing sector. In this paper we analyse the influence of statutory regulations on the management of the social rented housing stock in four European countries and in Australia, in order to assess to what extent these regulations help or impede the development of a market-oriented asset management. It is concluded that the social landlords in most of the countries studied have some autonomy which enables a more market-oriented asset management. Nevertheless, the assumption that giving greater freedom to market forces and reducing government influence and support lead to a more market-oriented asset management by itself does not hold for all countries.

Energy‐efficient asset management for professional landlords

CO2 reduction by means of energy conservation is an important topic in many governmental environmental policies. As new construction accounts for a fraction of the total building stock, the energy performance of existing dwellings is of great importance. Professional landlords can play a major role in energy conservation, but there are indications that the large energy conservation potential in their housing existing stock is only exploited to a minor extent. This paper presents a method to implement the topic energy conservation in the asset management of professional landlords, in order to establish an integration of energy conservation in their maintenance and renovation practice. This method is described in relation to the asset management of Dutch social housing landlords, but may also be useful for other professional landlords. The method takes advantage of the European EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive).

Management of Privatised Housing

The sale of public and social housing has been a major aspect of housing policies in the past decades. In all countries, privatisation has led to new challenges for housing management. Many estates are now in a state of mixed (public and private) ownership, which raises questions about the division of responsibilities between public and private owners, tenant involvement and concerns about the maintenance of the housing stock. This paper presents the results of an international research project in eleven countries that focused on the sale policies pursued by governments and landlords, the management problems in privatised housing and the emerging strategies to deal with housing management. Findings demonstrate that in different cultural settings similar processes and policy interventions can have different outcomes and implications in the area of housing management. Housing management institutions in different countries have shown surprising stability, even in the context of rapid policy reforms. Understanding the path dependent nature of these institutions maybe critical in terms of addressing existing technical, financial and legal challenges in privatised housing and is a central tenet of a much-needed reform to improve its quality in the future.

How strategic is housing asset management of institutional real estate investors

Purpose – There is a clear tendency towards more business‐like approaches in the housing sectors in many European countries. The paper attempts to identify these approaches and related techniques with Dutch institutional real estate investors.Design/methodology/approach – It has been investigated how real estate investors in The Netherlands decide about the physical and technical development and the tenure of their housing stock. In‐depth interviews have been held with several large real estate investors, which cover the majority of all dwellings in the sector.Findings – Results show that investment allocations are only partly rationalised and are not in the least based on intuition. In addition, some elements of strategic asset management prove to be less common than we had expected from the commercial nature of these elements.Research limitations/implications – The research concentrates on the development of the total portfolio. In future research, individual estates can be selected for case studies, in...

Market orientation in social housing management

States that social housing has traditionally been provided through bureaucratic mechanisms, and as a consequence landlords have operated mainly in a task‐oriented way. Reports that many governments in Europe have transformed their housing systems to include or to reinforce market principles in the hope that this could lead to a more efficient social housing system. Argues that market orientation should be reinforced in the social rented sector. Concludes that in the methods from the private sector the emphasis naturally lies on financial performance, so social landlords must find ways to incorporate social returns in their decisions.

Strategic planning process models: a step further

Purpose – Following the neo‐liberal trend of less government intervention and more room for market forces, the introduction of private sector models in the public or non‐profit sector has gained a lot of attention and popularity. This has also been the case in several European non‐profit social housing sectors. This paper aims to reflect on the practicability of strategic business planning models in the Dutch non‐profit housing sector and to present suggestions for improvement of these models.Design/methodology/approach – Case studies have been held among six Dutch non‐profit landlords. These case studies included interviews with both policy staff and staff responsible for individual investment projects.Findings – In the Dutch non‐profit housing sector, models based on principles of strategic business planning and similar models have been applied to structure and to systematise decision making about investments in the housing stock. These models, however, appear to be unsuccessful in their impact on actua...

The continued retreat of non-profit housing providers in the Netherlands

After the abolishment of object subsidies for housing construction and renovation in the mid 1990s, Dutch housing associations, the main non-profit housing providers in the country, heavily relied on market activities, such as selling homes to owner occupiers, to generate income for their social activities and to contribute to urban development policies. This worked well, which was one of the main reasons that these housing providers could adopt a wide field of operations, including not only the management and development of affordable housing for low-income groups, but also housing in other market segments, plus activities regarding care, welfare, local economy, employment and education. Recent economic and political developments, however, have caused housing associations to return on this path. Central in this paper is a research among Dutch housing associations about their values, strategic positioning and strategies. The research was executed in two waves (conducted in 2010/2011 and in 2013/2014, respectively), each consisting of a panel survey and interviews with selected panellists. This paper presents the results of the second wave. It is expected that after the first wave of the research, new regulations, such as the national implementation of European rules on state support and the introduction of a new property tax, have resulted in a further retreat from non-social housing activities. The analysis shows that this is indeed the case, but that the main shifts in priorities have not taken place directly after the credit crunch, but in later years.

Analysing obsolescence, an elaborated model for residential buildings

Purpose – In previous research publications the authors combined the available knowledge about obsolescence in a conceptual model for further research on and appliance in the decision making about demolition. Since evidence-based theoretical research references on obsolescence are rare, the model inevitably had an explorative character. The purpose of this paper is to test and elaborate the model. Design/methodology/approach – A series of case studies were conducted in various residential building estates. In each estate the types of obsolescence (according to the model) and their interrelationships were identified. Findings – The model can usefully be applied; it enables the determination of types of obsolescence. The case studies also show that several types of obsolescence occur simultaneously, and that these types can be interrelated. This touches upon the complexity of cause-effect mechanisms as already mentioned in the introduction. One of the weaknesses is that information is sometimes available fo...

Embedding energy saving policies in Dutch social housing

Purpose – Many studies on policy implementation have emphasized the difficulties of putting policies into practice. This paper presents several ways in which Dutch social landlords incorporate their energy saving policies in their “regular” housing management, such as planned preventive maintenance, renovations and other physical improvements.Design/methodology/approach – Several housing associations were selected that have formulated an energy saving policy and that have at least some experience in implementing these policies into projects. Interviews were held with managers of asset and maintenance management and with policy staff of housing associations. The extent to which the policy ambitions, both at the portfolio level and at the project level are carried out, and in which way these ambitions are embedded in the organisations’ regular working processes are investigated. Also, the main stimuli and barriers for the implementation of the energy saving policies are identified. Special attention has bee...