The privatisation of social housing: Three different pathways

This chapter examines the privatisation of social rented housing in the United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands and Germany. It then provides comparative analysis on the nature of the privatisation process in each of these countries. The chapter discusses three main forms of privatisation in Netherlands: the transformation from municipal housing companies into housing associations, the increasing independence from government of the social rented sector and the sale of dwellings to individual households. The transfer of housing from local authority ownership to non-profit housing associations is a historic feature of the Dutch system, and more recently has become a very important feature in the UK.