Housing system reform: the opinion of advisory boards versus political reality in the Netherlands.

Peter Boelhouwer,Hugo Priemus

doi:10.1007/s10901-012-9288-3

Peter Boelhouwer, Hugo Priemus

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-012-9288-3

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Abstract

This paper describes to what extent a more or less collective feeling of urgency to reform the Dutch housing market is addressed in the political arena. By doing that, it sheds some light on the effectiveness and influence of academic research and recommendations on the political decision making process. We conclude that the suggestion of several advisory bodies to start a serious reform of the housing system in the Netherlands is, due to coalition considerations, almost fully neglected by the Dutch Government. Although there is a common understanding among experts and interest organisations in the Netherlands that the current housing systems needs radical changes, coalition politics in the Netherlands are apparently more important to explain current housing policies. We conclude that the effectiveness and influence of academic research and recommendations on the political decision making process was quite modest in the last couple of years and try to explain the gap between academic research and political decision-making on Dutch housing policy.

Highlights

There is growing consensus among experts, advisory bodies and many stakeholders in the Netherlands about the need to transform the housing system, in particular by a strategic reform of the housing finance system
This paper describes to what extent a more or less collective feeling of urgency to reform the Dutch housing market is addressed in the political arena
There is a common understanding among experts and interest organisations in the Netherlands that the current housing systems needs radical changes, coalition politics in the Netherlands are apparently more important to explain current housing policies

Summary

Introduction

There is growing consensus among experts, advisory bodies and many stakeholders in the Netherlands about the need to transform the housing system, in particular by a strategic reform of the housing finance system. This was the message of the Dutch Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment Council—generally abbreviated as VROMRaad in Dutch and VROM Council in English—(VROMRaad 2007) and, more recently, of the expert committee of the Dutch Social Economic Council—abbreviated as SER-CSED in Dutch but. For an overview of the VROMRaad-proposals: see Boelhouwer and Hoekstra (2009). In terms of the welfare state, the Dutch society can be characterized as a corporatist/social-democratic archetype. The Dutch use the ancient word ‘‘polderen’’ to describe the sometimes endless negotiations between the organisations of civil society and government

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