Increasing energy efficiency of the housing stock is one of the largest challenges in the built environment today. In line with the international Paris-Climate-Change-Conference 2015, Dutch ...municipalities and housing associations have embraced the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality for their social housing stock by 2050. However, most deep renovation designs for increasing the energy efficiency of dwellings focus on the relatively easy portion of the housing stock: postwar row housing. Furthermore, such design solutions are mostly produced without much care for architectural quality and cultural heritage, nor for testing for consumer preferences. Yet, such aspects are of major importance in tenement housing, particularly regarding the architectural quality of the huge numbers of walk-up apartment buildings from the inter- and postwar periods owned by housing associations in the larger cities. Renovation of buildings of this typology is more complex because of, among others, technical, social, and heritage factors. To support decisions in this complex context, a General Transformation Framework and a Roadmap has been developed for generating design solutions for deep renovation of representative parts of postwar walk-up apartment buildings with the aim to increase energy efficiency; retain its architectural legibility and cultural heritage value; and allow for the presentation of (end) users, with various options for adaptation to assess their preferences.
Housing associations own 32 % of housing stock in the Netherlands, making them major actors in maintaining and improving the quality of life in the urban environment. The building stock requires ...effective innovation to keep pace with the needs of today’s tenants. Moreover, the current financial circumstances and political environment have pushed housing associations to innovate in their (re)construction processes, for example by adopting a partnering approach. Several studies indicate that the implementation of innovations could benefit from partnering approaches in the construction supply chain. An evaluation of refurbishment projects that have been carried out using a partnering approach, however, indicates that the innovation process itself was seen as the major innovation and may (initially) even hamper innovations that aim to upgrade the dwelling to current standards. This effect should be taken into account when developing innovations in dwellings.
Supply chain partnering is seen as one method of handling the need for more efficient and transparent building processes. Although it has received considerable attention from practitioners and ...researchers, supply chain partnering is still in its formative phase within the construction industry. There have been a number of studies that focus on ‘success factors’ in partnering, but relatively few studies have focused on whether and how these factors are applied in practice. Moreover, almost no studies have been completed into supply chain partnering in housing refurbishment projects. An assessment was made of the partnerships between six Dutch housing associations and general contractors, on the basis of the success factors identified in literature: trust, leadership, partner capabilities, commitment, conflict resolution, coordination and communication. The conclusion is that most of these factors play a role, although there are considerable differences in the way in which the dyads used these factors in their partnering process. Conflict resolution techniques and coordination measures have not yet been developed. This may be due to the experimental stage of the dyads and/or the level of trust within the dyads, but it also implies a risk for the further development of the partnering process, should conflicts arise.
Mergers among housing associations have become a frequent phenomenon in both the Netherlands and England. The general literature on mergers highlights the need for research to consider the wider ...political and business environment, managerial motives and strategic choices, to adopt a process perspective and to evaluate outcomes in relation to competing definitions of goals and success criteria. This article applies these perspectives to consider drivers for and experience of housing association mergers in the Netherlands and England, competing motivations such as efficiency savings in relation to borrowing and procurement costs, improved professionalism and organisational capacity and external influence. We discuss the pace and motivations of mergers, the expected positive and negative effects, and actual outcomes. We focus on the impact of mergers on stakeholder satisfaction, housing production and operational costs. Based on our findings we discuss the implications for policies and practice in both countries. Our main conclusion is that the relationship between the size of housing associations and their performance is not straightforward. This is partly because large and small associations are generally trying to do different things in different ways and have contrasting strengths and weaknesses; thus judgements about whether mergers and concentration of ownership in third sector housing is a change for the better are dependent upon considerations of underlying purposes and success criteria.
In England and the Netherlands, in response to changes in housing policy and the market, there is widespread enthusiasm for asset management in the social rented sector. A key issue in both countries ...is the development of a strategic approach towards the formulation of asset management plans. The paper examines this issue in relation to the current practice of housing associations in both countries. Drawing on case studies in England and the Netherlands, it is concluded that in both countries practice varies widely between housing associations. Some of the approaches adopted by front-runners can be seen as models for other associations yet to develop a strategic approach towards asset management. Lessons can also be learnt across national boundaries, though necessarily mediated by differences between the two housing systems.
As a result of changes in housing policy in the 1980s and 1990s, social landlords in several European countries have to manage their stock in a more commercial way. They have to anticipate market ...developments and formulate a strategy for the development of their stock. This kind of asset management is referred to as 'strategic housing management'. Being mainly a practitioners' business, and mostly of recent date, strategic housing management lacks a sound theoretical basis. Publications of 'good' practice are scarce. This paper sets up a framework for strategic housing management of social landlords. The main question addressed is: 'How can social landlords develop their asset management schemes in a strategic way?' From the theory on business planning and housing management, the paper defines strategic stock management and its characteristics. The paper uses Kotler's general model for strategic business planning and illustrates how this model can be applied to social landlords with various examples from The Netherlands and approaches from front-runners among Dutch social landlords.
Performance assessment of housing associations van Overmeeren, Arne; Gruis, Vincent; Haffner, Marietta
Journal of housing and the built environment,
04/2010, Letnik:
25, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This article analyzes the function, design, and effects of a method to assess the performance of housing associations in the Netherlands. First, the roles of performance assessment are discussed from ...three perspectives: the association as an agent for the central government; the association as a facilitator of local stakeholders' needs; and the association as an autonomous social entrepreneur. From each of these stereotypical perspectives, we derive the approaches to and functions of performance assessment. The resulting theoretical archetypes of performance assessment are then employed to analyze the method that was in place in 2005 in the Netherlands. The performance assessment system is also analyzed using the director, detector, and effector elements drawn from cybernetic theory. Furthermore, the Dutch performance assessment method is briefly compared with the English inspection system. This provides a better understanding of the types of performance assessment. In light of the identified perspectives on housing associations, we conclude that the Dutch method performs poorly on the director and effector element and that the English method performs relatively well on all elements. Nevertheless, in both countries adjustments in the performance assessment system can increase learning and improve the performance of housing associations.
According to the recent Housing Memorandum (MVROM, 2000), Dutch housing associations are expected to actively improve the control of tenants over their dwellings and their living environment and ...offer them more possibilities to choose their own type of tenure. Before the publication of the Memorandum, associations had already developed various innovative types of tenure, for example fixed rent contracts, tenant maintenance programmes and different forms of sale with discounts and risk-reducing conditions. With the introduction of these tenures, associations aim to contribute to their social objectives by improving tenants' satisfaction with their dwellings and to improve the market position of their stock as well. Our paper discusses innovative types of tenure that have been developed by the Dutch housing associations and their benefits and risks for tenant and landlord. We focus on the 'Client's Choice' programme that has been developed by the association WoonbronMaasoevers, which is recognised as a front-runner in offering households a wide range of choice in tenure and which is also illustrative of many of the benefits and risks of the innovative tenures. We conclude that many of the innovative tenures, including the Client's Choice programme, can contribute to tenant empowerment and freedom of choice. However, low-income households will mostly have to keep relying on (social) rented housing and other forms of empowerment. For the landlord, the Client's Choice programme has the benefit of increasing cash flow, which can be used for (social) housing investments. However, there are also substantial financial risks, concerning the rate of sales, the development of market values and the potential costs of having to buy back all the dwellings at the end of their economic lifespan. Thus, the implementation of the Client's Choice programme on a large scale should be accompanied by measures to control or provide for these risks.
Purpose - This paper aims to explore an approach in which asset management strategies of housing associations are largely determined at neighbourhood level and in which the development of the market ...value is one of the key criteria.Design methodology approach - The paper discusses the characteristics of the existing asset management models and their drawbacks. It describes area-based policies, and it argues how the neighbourhood level can be incorporated in asset management and why this also helps to solve some of the drawbacks of the portfolio-based models derived from strategic business planning. This approach is illustrated with the practice of housing association Stadgenoot.Findings - It is argued that asset management based on value creation at neighbourhood level has significant advantages above the "traditional" business planning approach and suggests some further directions for elaboration of this approach.Practical implications - This approach enables housing associations to improve their asset management strategies.Originality value - The paper presents a new view on asset management in response to traditional, top-down, rational planning models.
Since the Dutch government strongly reduced its control of housing associations in the 1990s, the housing associations have been developing different organisational strategies. In this paper I ...present a theoretical classification of organisational archetypes for housing associations, based on a distinction between prospectors and defenders, and between housing associations with a relatively strong social orientation and those with a more business-like, commercial, orientation. The four resulting organisational archetypes are worked out on the basis of their range of activities, innovations, organisational structure, available expertise (human resources), strategic management systems, and their approach towards local accountability. Furthermore, the archetypes are illustrated and tested by case studies. It is concluded that the distinction between prospectors and defenders is applicable to the housing associations, but that the distinction between social and commercial orientation is harder to apply to practice.
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