Housing corporations should sell 800,000 homes, say top economists

If the Dutch social housing sector is to survive, housing corporations should sell up to 800,000 of their 2.4 million homes to their tenants, according to three top economists in Friday’s Financieele Dagblad.

Arthur Docters van Leeuwen, Sweder van Wijnbergen and Hans Hillen warn that a new right-wing cabinet will increase pressure on both housing corporations and housing subsidies in their efforts to improve the government’s finances.
And this means corporations should stay one step ahead and reduce their size in a responsible manner, the three men say.
Docters van Leeuwen is a VVD supporter and former head of the financial services sector regulator AFM. Sweder van Wijnbergen is a leading economist and Labour party supporter while Hans Hillen represents the Christian Democrats in the senate. The VVD and CDA are currently in negotiations to form a minority government.
A massive sale of social housing will remove the problem of high-earners living in cheap housing because they will be encouraged to buy their own homes, the economists say.
It will also generate €120bn for further investment.
Housing corporations own some 34% of the Dutch housing stock.