P.J. Boelhouwer

Trends in Dutch Housing Policy and the Shifting Position of the Social Rented Sector

The housing system of the Netherlands has acquired an international reputation because of its special nature and the way it has evolved. In this contribution, we explain how the Dutch social rented sector came to have this specific character. We establish that the position of the social rented sector is strongly influenced by developments in society at large. In particular, its specific position may be explained with reference to the emergence and transformation of the Dutch welfare state. In the Netherlands, the development of the social rented sector coincided with the vigorous build-up of the welfare state. That sector continued to grow in the Netherlands for a longer period than in most other west European countries. Ultimately, the share of the Dutch social rented sector reached its highest point—41 per cent of the stock—at the beginning of the 1990s. The current position of the social rented sector in the Netherlands is determined not only by the structure of the Dutch welfare state and the countrys distinct housing policy. It is also the result of the shifting balance of supply and demand in the national housing market. Compared with other countries, the particular historical development of the Dutch social rented sector makes the adjustment of the housing system to a more market-orientated policy—in which more attention is devoted to the freedom of choice of the housing consumer—an unprecedented activity to say the least. This process will require the present housing associations to show a large measure of creativity and flexibility.

Values and goals as determinants of intended tenure choice

Housing choice and tenure choice have beenstudied from many different theoreticalperspectives and with a great variety ofmethodological approaches. In explaininghousing choice, researchers have shown theinfluence of both macrolevel (housing market,economic situation) and microlevel (age,income) factors. Relatively little attentionhas been given to motivational microlevelfactors such as goals and values. In thisarticle, the focus is on values and goals asdeterminants of housing choice. Therelationships between these motivationalfactors, other microlevel factors, and housingchoice are specified in an extended means-endmodel which is based on means-end theory. Theempirical validity of this extended model hasbeen partly assessed by using it to predictintended tenure choice. In the article,previous research on the motivations forhousing choice is discussed and the extendedmeans-end model is described. The empiricalresults of applying the model to intendedtenure choice are presented and discussed,while the assessment of the reliability of thevalue scales is also described.

Housing systems in Europe

Since the end of the 1970s, interest in international comparative housing research has been growing in many industrialized countries. Actually, this approach is by no means new to the field (Schmidt 1989: 60). Indeed, a few international comparative studies had been published in the 1960s (by Wendt, 1963; and Donnison, 1967, among others). Yet almost two decades passed before studies of this type started to proliferate. Schmidt explains the gap by the divergent course of housing studies during the 1970s. At that time, housing research lost contact with theoretical and methodological developments in the social sciences. But the tide turned at the end of the 1970s; ever since, international comparative housing and building have appeared in quick succession. (Benchmark Studies include those by Kemeny, 1981; Donnison and Ungerson, 1982; Ambrose and Barlow, 1986; Hallet, 1977; Ball et al., 1988; Kroes et al, 1988; Lundqvist, 1988, 1990; Van Vliet, 1987, 1990; and Van Vliet and Van Weesep, 1990). The reasons for this revival of international comparative research are diverse. Academics have an inherent interest in comparative work in general. The interest of politicians and policy makers reflects their more practical concerns. Increasingly, they need to understand how specific housing policy instruments are employed in different countries and what the effects of these instruments are. Furthermore, the great expansion of international cooperation between Western countries and the impending economic integration of Europe in 1992 have also fostered interest in international comparison. After all, it has not been ruled out that housing will be subject to a degree of policy harmonization, just like other areas of policy, in the new Europe. Against this backdrop the OTB Research Institute for Policy Sciences and Technology of the Delft University of Technology has conducted a comparative investigation of the housing systems and their effects in a number of European countries. The research is sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment in the Netherlands. The main objective of this ongoing project is to deepen our understanding and expand our knowledge of

International comparison of social housing management in Western Europe

This article provides an overview of social housing management in seven West-European countries. In order to place the concept of housing management in context and allow comparison, housing management is classified according to technical, social and financial aspects of management. Housing management has become increasingly independent and the financial ties are becoming looser in nearly all of the seven investigated countries. Even though governments still play a major role in Europe with respect to the granting of subsidies, the non-profit institutions have to entirely rely on the capital market in order to obtain the required funds. However, in many cases intermediary organisations are still responsible for attracting loans.

House prices and income tax in the Netherlands: an international perspective

A sharp drop in prices on the home owner market is not only hard to predict but also the reason why many politicians would prefer to implement any tax changes gradually, if at all. Against this backdrop, the present study explores the relationship between a change in the personal income tax treatment of home ownership and a change in house prices. First, based on a literature study, it identifies the factors in the development of house prices. Then, using data from several European countries, it compares the effects of personal income tax reform on the development of house prices. As the comparison reveals, the method and timing of adjustments in the tax system have a strong influence on house price development. Furthermore, econometric modelling of the Dutch home owner market suggests that when the restrictions on tax concessions are less stringent, the real decline in house prices is not as steep and does not last as long.

Management of social rented housing in Western Europe

Abstract The pre‐war growth and development of the social rented housing sector in Western Europe was related to substantial quantitative housing shortages, and was largely supported and controlled by central governments. However, since the 1970s there have been reductions in government subsidies for this sector and a shift away from government regulation towards market mechanisms. The greater freedom of the social rented sector to decide its own policy is often accompanied by greater risks. Social housing organisations feel more tension between guaranteeing the financial continuity of the organisation and its social objectives. This paper will examine to what extent and in what way this process of independence in seven Western European countries is being shaped and what this means for the position of the social housing organisations. The focus will be on a number of financial and social aspects of the housing management in the social rented sector.

Capital accumulation via homeownership: the case of the Netherlands

In this contribution, the possibilities of capital accumulation via homeownership in the Dutch context are described. We conclude that there is dichotomy in the Dutch housing market, where in particular households owning their own house before 1992 have seen their capital grow strongly and have profited from this development both in and outside the housing market. This growth was made possible by the strong increase in house prices, the ample financing opportunities, the fiscal facilities and the limited supply of newly constructed high quality owner-occupied houses. In this context one can speak of a lever operating generated by the owner-occupied housing sector. The baby-boom generation profited most from this operation. On the other hand, those households which have not yet, or only recently, entered the owner-occupied housing sector, are confronted with enormous risks. In addition to the risks for individual houseowners, there is also a risk that the stability of the Dutch economy will be damaged because house price rises which go together with a long-term substantial credit expansion can become detached from the underlying fundamental factors.

Social Housing Finance in Europe: Trends and Opportunities

The central topic of this contribution is the financing of the social rented sector in seven countries in western Europe: the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, France and Sweden. Since 1975, the macro housing quota has increased in all seven countries, but most of all in the Netherlands. Property subsidies have been reduced; housing allowances have become more important. The differences in size of the social rented sector remain large. Private finance has mostly replaced public loans, with the exception of Germany where interest-free government loans cover part of the finance needed. In most countries, guarantees for capital market loans exist, Great Britain being the exception. In the near future, changes in social housing finance may be expected as a result of European monetary integration. The euro will (for the time being) not be introduced in Denmark, Great Britain and Sweden. The costs of capital may decline when social housing finance becomes more internationalised.

The private rental sector in Western Europe: Developments since the Second World War and prospects for the future

Abstract In the period after the Second World War, the dominant position of the private rental sector in the housing market in many West European countries came to an end. Economic developments and government policy both contributed to the greatly deteriorating competitive position of the private rental sector in many countries. Although there have been comparable developments in many countries that have led to a decrease in the share of private rented dwellings, there are also considerable differences between them regarding the size and function of the private rental sector in the housing system. There are also differences in the use of policy instruments and the volume of new construction of private rented dwellings. As a result of recent developments in housing policy in many West European countries the competitive position of the private rental sector has started to improve. Moreover, in a number of countries (regional) housing shortages are again occurring. For the private rental sector this perhaps ...

Development of house prices in the Netherlands: An international perspective

This article deals with the questionwhether it is plausible to assume, on the basis ofexperiences in other countries and general insightsinto the operation of the market for owner-occupiedhousing, that a price correction will take place inthe market for owner-occupied dwellings in theNetherlands or rather that it is reasonable toexpect that the rising trend in real sales prices,which started in the 1980s, will continue steadilyon the same course. On the grounds of thisinformation, we conclude that in the medium term, weshould expect to see a decline in the sales pricesfor dwellings in the Netherlands.