Going DutchTrevor James

Outline

• Brief outline of Dutch housing sector anno 2014• Allocations – various models• The temporary housing market• Facilitating bottom up solutions• What if tenant priorities were to shape your way of working?• Discussion

Brief history

• 30 years ago social housing was provided by housing associations and local authority arms length organisations

• Allocations were carried out by the local authority with HA’s with members being allowed to allocate a percentage directly to their members

• 42% of Dutch housing was social housing, approx. 40% was owner occupied and the rest was private rental

• There were approx. 1,500 LA arms length and housing associations , mostly associations with members owning 2.4 million dwellings

Ownership

1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 20125,289,321 5,802,362 6,191,922 6,589,660 6,858,719 7,172,436 7,266,295

Anno 2014

• Arms length local authority housing associations are gone• Housing associations have generally become foundations

without members• There are now 388, owning 2,319,778 dwellings• 32% of housing is social housing, 60% is owner occupied

and the rest is private rental• Subsidies and loans disappeared with the ‘brutering’ in 1995• HA’s finances dependent on the sale of existing and new

property for new development on average 11,500 per year

Parliamentary enquiry and new law in the make

• Various scandals – excessive salaries, bad land deals, Sun King in his Maserati, SS Rotterdam, Vestia

• Call for more regulation and tighter financial controls • Financial crisis and dramatic fall in house prices• Minister levy equivalent to 2 months rent for every dwelling• Restrictions on operations proposed in the new law• More powers for local government

Structure of Dutch social housing sector

Local authority

• Can make rules on allocations based on local circumstances• Usually a contract or covenant with local housing

associations and other landlords• Can make it mandatory for a tenant to apply for a licence• Rules can be based on:

– Who is eligible for a dwelling in the LA area– Criteria relating to household size and size of the dwelling– Urgency – criteria

• Actual allocation is the responsibility of the landlord and governed by (inter)national law

H.A.’s working together

Housing allocation systems

• Distributiemodel (traditional waiting list model) • Aanbodmodel – ‘Delft’ (choice based lettings CBL)• Optiemodel (option on a specific estate or scheme with fixed

ranking number)• Lotingmodel (a lottery)• Life style• Makelaarsmodel (broker model)• Direct te huur… (who’s first: direct letting)• De Woonswitch (…% free letting)• Combinations of the above

System per region

CBL CBL + lottery CBL + lottery + option Distribution Lottery Option Option + lottery

Ranking criteria per region

Time on the waiting list Time on the waiting list + lottery Time on the waiting list + length of tenancy Time on the waiting list + length of tenancy + lottery Time on the waiting list + life style Lottery Length of tenancy + age + lottery

Ranking can be based on …

• Length of time on the waiting list• Number of years tenant is living in rental housing • Lottery• Life style preference• Age (< 23 or >55 years)• Cooptation• Urgent priority (physical disability, domestic abuse, mental

illness, relocation due to community redevelopment)• Social or economic relationship with the area• Starter or someone moving to another dwelling)• Income: social housing < € 34.678 in 2014 (before taxes)

Temporary housing market

• Many reasons to be temporarily in need of accommodation– Divorce– Domestic abuse– Release from prison– Debts and rent arrears leading to eviction– Also positive – internship, work and holiday

• Catering for the short term need can prevent homelessness

SSF Dordrecht

• Redundant old peoples’ home• Woonbron H.A owned• Magic mix of different types• Maximum 6 months stay• Commercial and social• Furnished and unfurnished• Commercial subsides social• Social enterprises in the plinth

WoonArt Hotel Rotterdam

• Woonbron + Woonstad Rotterdam• Social Entrepreneur• Art Hotel – Best Westen ****• Woonhotel – social needs• 218 rooms• 35% social,60% commercial• Local authority, probation service,

Facilitating ‘bottom up’ solutions

• In 2002 Minister decreed that 30% of all new housing should be individual initiatives – not developers

• Financial crisis and housing market collapse 2008 – 2013• Developers and HA’s not building• Citizens initiatives – bottom up – problems in attaining

building land and other opportunities + financing • Various (local) government initiatives to facilitate this

movement• HA’s can also play a role

Home steading

• Rotterdam LA – Klus Huizen (DIY Houses)– LA repaired foundations then sold semi-derelict property for the

market value minus the costs of rehabilitation using a builder– ‘Klussers’ must complete work in 1 year and live in the property

for a number of years– Very successful and copied by other LA’s and HA’s – Important success factors are professional support for the

DIY’ers and one point of contact for all LA departments– Variations include houses with restored listed elevations– Many DIY’ers invest more than expected and create dream

houses– Market values in the neighbourhood rise

Home steading

New Build PO & CPO

• LA’s selling building plots to individuals• Suburan situations any choose a catalogue house• Also individually architect designed• Usually 10% to 25% cheaper than a house built by a

developer• Collective approach – particularly for apartments but also for

difficult inner city locations and lower priced housing • Grant aid available in some Provinces to enable collective

initiatives to employ professional support

New Build PO & CPO

IBBA Almere

• Almere new town – whole new neighbourhoods in CPO and PO

• IBBA = I build affordable (house) in Almere• Local authority an HA De Key – enables (potential) social

housing tenants to build their own home• Open to households with maximum income before tax of

€36,500 (£28,000) per year (Plus for incomes up to €48,000 (£37,000) per year)

• Single family home costs maxim €189,000 (£145,400)• Builder finances 60%, IBBA the rest

Housing Co-operatives

• Residents taking initiatives to form housing co-operatives:– To build new housing because developers and HA’s aren’t– To take over existing dwellings from HA’s or private landlords

because they want more control over and responsibility for their own housing

• New development but minister has promised to make provisions in the new housing act

• Bottle neck is the financiering – minister will give HA’s a role in supporting co-operatives

What if tenant priorities were to shape your way of working?

• Imagine that you are a tenant of a RSL and you want to check your rent payments, register a repairs request, check the appointment with the plumber or make an appointment

• You maybe able to do some of these things on the RSL’s website, often you will have to phone or visit an office

• On the website you will probably have to log in with your password

• This sort of contact is costly for the RSL and often frustrating for the tenant

What if ….

• A Dutch association has thought out of the box:– Young people and senior citizens use mobile phones and tablets– An App is easier than logging in – no need for a password– App for all of the contacts with the RSL with possibilities to link

with neighbours

• Ambition is 80% of all contacts via the App• Requires new internal systems and changes in the

organisation• Expect to make massive savings in operational costs while

increasing tenant satisfaction and reputation