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

Abstract

After the abolishment of object subsidies for housing construction and renovation in the mid1990s, 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. This paper presents the results of the second wave of a research among Dutch housing associations, consisting of a panel survey and interviews with selected panellists. Central in the research are the values, the strategic positioning and the strategies of these housing providers. It is expected that after the first wave of the research, held in 2010/2011, 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 paper reveals to what extent this is the case.OTBArchitecture and The Built Environmen