Affordable Housing Governance and Finance in Europe ― Innovations, New Partnerships and Comparative Perspectives

There is a large shortage of affordable housing across Europe. In high-demand urban areas housing shortages lead to unaffordable prices for many target groups. This book explores innovations to support a sufficient supply of affordable and sustainable rental housing.

Affordable housing is increasingly developed, financed and managed by a mix of market, state, third sector and community actors. Recent decades in large parts of the Western world have consecutively shown state-dominated, non-profit housing sectors, an increased role for market forces and the private sector, and the rise of initiatives by citizens and local communities. The variety of hybrid governance and finance arrangements is predicted to increase further, leading to new affordable housing delivery and management models. This book explores these innovations, with a focus on developments across Europe, and comparative chapters from the USA and Australia. The book presents new thinking in collaborative housing, co-production and accompanying finance mechanisms in order to support the quantity and the quality of affordable rental housing.

Combing academic robustness with practical relevance, chapters are written by renowned housing researchers in collaboration with practitioners from the housing sector. The book not only presents, compares and contrasts affordable housing solutions, but also explores the transferability of innovations to other countries. The book is essential reading for researchers and professionals in housing, social policy, urban planning and finance.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Vincent Gruis is Professor of Housing Management at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.

Dr. Ing. Gerard van Bortel is Assistant Professor of Housing Management at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.

Joost Nieuwenhuijzen is managing director of the European Federation for Living (EFL) network. Joost worked for social housing providers in the Netherlands and has an extensive network in the affordable housing industry across Europe.

Ben Pluijmers is chairman of the board of the European Federation for Living (EFL). He worked in various executive management positions in the social housing industry.