ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the reform in Dutch social housing was possible and why it did not result in a marginalized housing stock. While it focuses primarily on Dutch social housing, it refers the British situation as a contrast case. Dutch post-war housing policy became locked-in by external socioeconomic policy requirements and by obligations from long-term subsidy agreements. There were two main factors that created this lock-in situation during the 1960s and 1970s: the stock was controlled by private non-profit housing associations rather than public organizations, and social housing had become closely entangled with other policy areas. A combination of three factors made the reform: the social housing sector was publicly disgraced, creating a crisis of legitimacy and opening a window of opportunity; policy makers handled the opportunity well; and the inheritance of a past policy allowed a type of reform that would previously have been impossible.
