Social Housing in Europe

Notes on Contributors xv Foreword by Claude Taffin xxiii Acknowledgments xxv 1 Introduction 1 Kathleen Scanlon, Christine Whitehead and Melissa Fernández Arrigoitia National stocks of social housing 3 Ownership 6 Rents 6 Access 10 Housing allowance 12 Demographics of social tenants 12 SECTION ONE: SOCIAL HOUSING IN 12 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 21 Part I Large Social Housing Sectors 23 2 Social Housing in the Netherlands 25 Marja Elsinga and Frank Wassenberg Position of social housing 25 Historical development 27 The provision of social housing 29 Finance 30 Rents 32 Access and allocation 33 Social housing-tenants 34 Governance and regulation 35 Current debates 37 3 Social Housing in Scotland 43 Douglas Robertson and Regina Serpa Introduction 43 Historical development of social housing in Scotland 44 Tenure profile and trends 46 Insecure accommodation 47 Housing allocations 47 Financing of social housing 49 Governance and regulation 49 Capital investment in housing 50 Right to Buy 51 Housing finance 52 New house-building trends 54 Financial innovations 55 Conclusion: Present-day policy environment 56 4 Social Housing in Austria 61 Christoph Reinprecht Introduction: the current position of social housing 61 Historical development of the sector up to the present 63 Provision of social housing 65 Financing 66 Rents 68 Access 69 Demographics 70 Governance and regulation 71 Current policy environment 72 Part II Medium Social Housing Sectors 75 5 Social Housing in Denmark 77 Hedvig Vestergaard and Kathleen Scanlon Introduction 77 The current position of social housing 78 Provision of social housing 79 Landsbyggefonden/The National Building Fund 80 Access to social housing/eligibility 81 Demographics of social housing 83 Rent levels 85 Other forms of affordable provision 85 The political debate 86 Recent initiatives 87 Conclusion 88 6 Social Housing in Sweden 91 Hans Lind The concept of social housing in the Swedish context 91 Tenure forms and rent setting in Sweden 93 MHCs in Sweden 96 Housing allowances and other economic support 97 How the social authorities work with housing issues 99 Some recent trends 99 Conclusion 101 7 Social Housing in England 105 Christine Whitehead The housing stock and the changing importance of tenure structure 105 Structure and ownership in the social sector 107 Investment in new social housing 108 Financing the social sector 110 Rent determination 113 Who lives in the social sector? 115 Looking to the future 117 8 Social Housing in France 123 Claire Lévy-Vroelant, Jean-Pierre Schaefer and Christian Tutin Introduction: the current position of social housing in France 123 Historical development of social housing 127 Organisation of the social housing sector 130 Financing social housing 131 Rents 133 Access and allocation 135 Tenant demographics 139 Current issues and political debates 140 Part III Small Social Housing Sectors 143 9 Social Housing in the Republic of Ireland 145 Declan Redmond and Michelle Norris Introduction 145 The development of the social housing sector 146 Housing need and social housing tenants 148 The local authority sector 151 The housing association sector 153 Planning gain and social housing 155 Social housing support: rent supplement and social housing leasing 156 Future trends and policy 159 10 Social Housing in the Czech Republic 165 Martin Lux Introduction 165 The current position of social housing 166 Historical development of the sector to the present day 168 Provision of social housing 170 New municipal construction: policy and financing 173 Rents, access and allocation 176 Conclusion 178 Acknowledgement 179 11 Social Housing in Germany 183 Christiane Droste and Thomas Knorr-Siedow Introduction 183 Development of the sector up to the present 184 Provision of social housing 194 Current developments in social housing policy and practice 196 Conclusion 199 12 Social Housing in Hungary 205 József Hegedüs Introduction 205 Historical development of the sector up to the present 207 Provision of social housing 210 Financing social housing 211 Rents 213 Access and allocation 215 Housing allowances and 'low-cost housing' 216 Homeownership opportunities 218 Effects of the global financial crisis on social housing 219 Conclusion 220 13 Social Housing in Spain 223 Baralides Alberdi Introduction 223 Historical development of the sector 226 Structure of social housing 228 Funding VPO social housing 229 VPO prices and rents 231 Access and allocation 232 Demographics of social housing 233 Current policy environment 233 14 Social Housing in Post-Socialist Countries 239 József Hegedüs, Martin Lux, Petr Sunega and Nóra Teller Introduction: the East European Housing Model and changes to the housing system during transition 239 Rent regulation 241 Housing allowances 243 Social housing management 244 New social housing investment 244 Trends in housing affordability and housing inequality 246 The sustainability and effectiveness of new social housing subsidies 248 Conclusions: prospects for a new social housing regime 250 Acknowledgement 251 SECTION TWO:CROSS-CUTTING THEMES 255 Part IV History 257 15 Histories of Social Housing: A Comparative Approach 259 Peter Malpass Introduction 259 Perspectives on the history of social housing 260 Comparative housing histories: a new approach 266 Conclusion 272 16 Learning from History: Path Dependency and Change in the Social Housing Sectors of Austria, France, the Netherlands and Scotland, 1889-2013 277 Claire Lévy-Vroelant, Christoph Reinprecht, Douglas Robertson and Frank Wassenberg Introduction 277 Main historical sequences 279 The metamorphosis of social housing 285 Conclusion 291 17 Housing the Poor in Paris and Vienna: The Changing Understanding of the 'Social' 297 Claire Lévy-Vroelant and Christoph Reinprecht Introduction 297 Social and 'very social': shifts in contexts, concepts and provision 298 Conditions in and provision of social housing, then and now 300 From social to very social 302 Historical shifts in meaning of 'very social' 306 Conclusion: the paradox of integration 311 Part V Finance and Law 315 18 Financing Social Rented Housing in Europe 317 Christine Whitehead Introduction 317 Rent determination 318 An increasing role for private debt finance 321 Equity finance for social housing 324 Subsidies to social housing provision 326 Conclusion 328 19 Social Housing and European Community Competition Law 333 Darinka Czischke Introduction 333 A typology of approaches to social housing provision in the European Union 334 Services of general interest, state aid and social housing 336 Conclusion 344 20 Property, Altruism and Welfare: What Social Housing Allocation Tells Us About English and French Legal Differences 349 Jane Ball Introduction 349 Social housing allocation in the European context 350 A holistic view 351 Property and altruism in England 352 Property law and altruism in France 355 Changes and Europeanisation 360 Conclusion 362 Part VI The Social and Private Sectors 367 21 Urban Regeneration in Dutch, French and German Social Housing Areas 369 Christiane Droste, Christine Lelévrier and Frank Wassenberg Social housing and urban regeneration in the three countries: a comparative perspective 369 The main periods of urban regeneration in social housing 372 Key features of current social housing renewal 380 Conclusion: the playing field is changing 384 22 The Privatisation of Social Housing: Three Different Pathways 389 Marja Elsinga, Mark Stephens and Thomas Knorr-Siedow Introduction 389 Privatisation in the UK 390 Privatisation in the Netherlands 396 Privatisation in Germany 401 Conclusion 409 23 Housing and Neighbourhoods: What Happened After the Sale of State Housing to Sitting Tenants in England? 415 Alan Murie Introduction 415 Privatising public housing in Europe 417 The Right to Buy in England 418 Social and spatial differences 419 Estate-level analysis 422 Conclusion 428 24 Conclusion 433 Kathleen Scanlonn and Christine Whitehead Country comparisons 435 Cross-cutting themes 442 A final conclusion 443 Glossary of Terms 445 Index 449