HOW TO ABOLISH SOCIAL HOUSING - THE DUTCH CASE

This paper shows how the social rented sector is being put under pressure in the Netherlands. It even looks as if the Dutch social rented sector is to be abolished with effect from 1 January 1995. It investigates how this has come about, without any right to buy, without political upheavals, indeed even without heated debates. It first looks at the housing corporations and the municipal housing companies. The independence of the social rented sector and that of individual housing corporations is then elucidated. It goes on to show how new construction subsidies are being done away with, and how operating subsidies in the stock can disappear in one fell swoop; the so-called "grossing and balancing' is then elaborated. In the final sections the political decision-making process and the future of the social rented sector in the Netherlands are elucidated. -from Author