IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v52y2020i8p1622-1642.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The unlikely revival of private renting in Amsterdam: Re-regulating a regulated housing market

Author

Listed:
  • Cody Hochstenbach

    (Centre for Urban Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Richard Ronald

    (Centre for Urban Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Over the last decade, private rental sectors have been in rapid ascendance across developed societies, especially in economically liberal, English-speaking contexts. The Netherlands, and Amsterdam in particular, has also more recently experienced the reversal of a century-long decline in private renting. More unusually, the expansion of private renting in Amsterdam has been explicitly promoted by the municipal and national government, and in cooperation with social housing providers, in response to decreasing accessibility to, and affordability of, social rental and owner-occupied housing. This paper explores how and why this state-initiated revival has come about, highlighting how new growth in rent-liberalized private renting is a partial outcome of the restructuring of the urban housing market around owner occupation since the 1990s. More critically, our analysis asserts that restructuring of Amsterdam’s housing stock can be conceptualized as regulated marketization. Market forces are not being simply unleashed, but given more leeway in some regards and matched by new regulations. We also demonstrate various tensions present in this process of regulated marketization; between national and local politics, between existing housing and new construction, and between policies implemented in different time periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Cody Hochstenbach & Richard Ronald, 2020. "The unlikely revival of private renting in Amsterdam: Re-regulating a regulated housing market," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(8), pages 1622-1642, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:52:y:2020:i:8:p:1622-1642
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X20913015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X20913015
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X20913015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dallas Rogers & Sin Yee Koh, 2017. "The globalisation of real estate: the politics and practice of foreign real estate investment," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Justin Kadi & Cody Hochstenbach & Christian Lennartz, 2020. "Multiple property ownership in times of late homeownership: a new conceptual vocabulary," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 6-24, January.
    3. Barend Wind & Caroline Dewilde & John Doling, 2020. "Secondary property ownership in Europe: contributing to asset-based welfare strategies and the ‘really big trade-off’," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 25-52, January.
    4. Rodrigo Fernandez & Annelore Hofman & Manuel B Aalbers, 2016. "London and New York as a safe deposit box for the transnational wealth elite," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(12), pages 2443-2461, December.
    5. Mike Raco & Nicola Livingstone & Daniel Durrant, 2019. "Seeing like an investor: urban development planning, financialisation, and investors’ perceptions of London as an investment space," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 1064-1082, June.
    6. Justus Uitermark, 2009. "An in memoriam for the just city of Amsterdam," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2-3), pages 347-361, June.
    7. Willem R. Boterman & Wouter P.C. Gent, 2014. "Housing Liberalisation and Gentrification: The Social Effects of Tenure Conversions in Amsterdam," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(2), pages 140-160, April.
    8. A. D. H. (Tony) Crook & Peter A. Kemp, 2019. "In search of profit: housing association investment in private rental housing," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 666-687, April.
    9. Richard Ronald & Justin Kadi, 2018. "The Revival of Private Landlords in Britain’s Post-Homeownership Society," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 786-803, November.
    10. Marja Elsinga & Marietta Haffner & Harry Van Der Heijden, 2008. "Threats to the Dutch Unitary Rental Market," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 21-37.
    11. Gertjan Wijburg & Manuel B. Aalbers, 2017. "The alternative financialization of the German housing market," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(7), pages 968-989, October.
    12. Brett Christophers, 2013. "A Monstrous Hybrid: The Political Economy of Housing in Early Twenty-first Century Sweden," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 885-911, December.
    13. Justin Kadi & Cody Hochstenbach & Christian Lennartz, 2020. "Multiple property ownership in times of late homeownership: a new conceptual vocabulary," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 6-24, January.
    14. Tom Moore, 2017. "The convergence, divergence and changing geography of regulation in the UK's private rented sector," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 444-456, July.
    15. Jannes van Loon & Manuel B. Aalbers, 2017. "How real estate became ‘just another asset class’: the financialization of the investment strategies of Dutch institutional investors," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 221-240, February.
    16. Wouter Van Gent & Willem Boterman, 2019. "Gentrification Of The Changing State," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 110(1), pages 35-46, February.
    17. Wouter van Gent & Cody Hochstenbach, 2020. "The neo-liberal politics and socio-spatial implications of Dutch post-crisis social housing policies," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 156-172, January.
    18. Joris Hoekstra & Peter Boelhouwer, 2014. "Falling between two stools? Middle-income groups in the Dutch housing market," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 301-313, July.
    19. Marja Elsinga & Marietta Haffner & Harry Van Der Heijden, 2008. "Threats to the Dutch Unitary Rental Market," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 21-37.
    20. Dallas Rogers & Sin Yee Koh, 2017. "The globalisation of real estate: the politics and practice of foreign real estate investment," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 1-14, January.
    21. Peter Boelhouwer, 2017. "The role of government and financial institutions during a housing market crisis: a case study of the Netherlands," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 591-602, October.
    22. Tom Moore, 2017. "The convergence, divergence and changing geography of regulation in the UK's private rented sector," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 444-456, July.
    23. Peter Boelhouwer, 2017. "The role of government and financial institutions during a housing market crisis: a case study of the Netherlands," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 591-602, October.
    24. Peter Malpass, 2004. "Fifty Years of British Housing Policy: Leaving or Leading the Welfare State?," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 209-227.
    25. Peter A. Kemp, 2015. "Private Renting After the Global Financial Crisis," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 601-620, July.
    26. Peter Kemp & Stefan Kofner, 2010. "Contrasting Varieties of Private Renting: England and Germany," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 379-398.
    27. Wouter van Gent & Cody Hochstenbach, 2020. "The neo-liberal politics and socio-spatial implications of Dutch post-crisis social housing policies," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 156-172, January.
    28. Joris Hoekstra & Peter Boelhouwer, 2014. "Falling between two stools? Middle-income groups in the Dutch housing market," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 301-313, July.
    29. Barend Wind & Caroline Dewilde & John Doling, 2020. "Secondary property ownership in Europe: contributing to asset-based welfare strategies and the ‘really big trade-off’," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 25-52, January.
    30. Suzanne Fitzpatrick & Hal Pawson, 2014. "Ending Security of Tenure for Social Renters: Transitioning to 'Ambulance Service' Social Housing?," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 597-615, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tuna Taşan-Kok & Sara Özogul, 2021. "Fragmented governance architectures underlying residential property production in Amsterdam," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(6), pages 1314-1330, September.
    2. Bouwmeester, Josje & Gerber, Jean-David & Hartmann, Thomas & Ay, Deniz, 2023. "Non-compliance and non-enforcement: An unexpected outcome of flexible soft densification policy in the Netherlands," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Holmes, Torik, 2024. "We need more network capacity! But why do we get it? Infrastructural refraction and the contingencies of network growth and energy transitions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katsinas, Philipp, 2021. "Professionalisation of short-term rentals and emergent tourism gentrification in post-crisis Thessaloniki," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108590, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Philipp Katsinas, 2021. "Professionalisation of short-term rentals and emergent tourism gentrification in post-crisis Thessaloniki," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(7), pages 1652-1670, October.
    3. Caroline Dewilde, 2018. "Explaining the declined affordability of housing for low-income private renters across Western Europe," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(12), pages 2618-2639, September.
    4. Hila Zaban, 2020. "The real estate foothold in the Holy Land: Transnational gentrification in Jerusalem," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3116-3134, November.
    5. David Ley, 2021. "A regional growth ecology, a great wall of capital and a metropolitan housing market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(2), pages 297-315, February.
    6. Park, Gum-Ryeong, 2024. "Housing cost burden and external causes of mortality: Variations across housing regimes in high-income countries, 2010–2020," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    7. Agustin Cocola-Gant & Ana Gago, 2021. "Airbnb, buy-to-let investment and tourism-driven displacement: A case study in Lisbon," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(7), pages 1671-1688, October.
    8. Paulina Legutko-Kobus & Maciej Nowak & Alexandru-Ionut Petrisor & Dan Bărbulescu & Cerasella Craciun & Atena-Ioana Gârjoabă, 2023. "Protection of Environmental and Natural Values of Urban Areas against Investment Pressure: A Case Study of Romania and Poland," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-33, January.
    9. Lisha He & Mia M Bennett & Ronghao Jiang, 2022. "The uneven geography of real estate investment by Mainland Chinese state-owned and private enterprises in the U.S.: Local market conditions, migration, and ethnic networks," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(4), pages 653-675, June.
    10. Frances Brill & Daniel Durrant, 2021. "The emergence of a Build to Rent model: The role of narratives and discourses," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(5), pages 1140-1157, August.
    11. Giovanni Semi & Marta Tonetta, 2021. "Marginal hosts: Short-term rental suppliers in Turin, Italy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(7), pages 1630-1651, October.
    12. Jonathan Bourne, 2019. "Empty homes: mapping the extent and value of low-use domestic property in England and Wales," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Antoine Guironnet, 2019. "Cities on the global real estate marketplace: urban development policy and the circulation of financial standards in two French localities," Post-Print halshs-02297204, HAL.
    14. Nienke Fredrika Boesveldt & Dolly Loomans, 2024. "Housing the homeless: Shifting sites of managing the poor in the Netherlands," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(7), pages 1393-1410, May.
    15. Korthals Altes, Willem K., 2019. "Planning initiative: Promoting development by the use of options in Amsterdam," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 13-21.
    16. Laure Casanova Enault & Martin Bocquet & Guilhem Boulay, 2023. "Who owns France? Uncovering the structure of property ownership for a better understanding of the socio-spatial distribution of wealth [Qui détient la France ? Révéler la structure de la propriété ," Post-Print hal-04187490, HAL.
    17. Hazel Easthope & Laura Crommelin & Sophie-May Kerr & Laurence Troy & Ryan van den Nouwelant & Gethin Davison, 2022. "Planning for Lower-Income Households in Privately Developed High-Density Neighbourhoods in Sydney, Australia," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(4), pages 213-228.
    18. Justin Kadi & Sako Musterd, 2015. "Housing for the poor in a neo-liberalising just city: Still affordable, but increasingly inaccessible," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 106(3), pages 246-262, July.
    19. Geoffrey Poitras & Giovanna Zanotti, 2018. "Housing Market Bubbles and Mortgage Contract Design: Implications for Mortgage Lenders and Households," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-18, July.
    20. Konstantin A. Kholodilin & Sebastian Kohl, 2021. "Rent Price Control – Yet Another Great Equalizer of Economic Inequalities?: Evidence from a Century of Historical Data," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1927, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:52:y:2020:i:8:p:1622-1642. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.