Amsterdam: How Just Is the Social Housing Sector?

The role of the social housing sector in the Netherlands is changing, it becomes smaller and more exclusively targeted to lower income groups. In Amsterdam, where half of the housing stock is owned by housing associations, the effect of these changes will have a great impact on the city. Susan Fainstein argues in ‘The Just City’ that the social housing system is a key element that makes Amsterdam a just city. But how just is the social housing sector in Amsterdam? And what impact will these changes have on the chances to move in the city and the spatial division of the city?

 The distribution system of social housing in Amsterdam is based on waiting time. The longer the waiting time, the higher chances are to find a new dwelling. The waiting list is long, the mean waiting time is 15 years.

Previous research indicate that in general younger households, households with a higher income and non-immigrant groups tend to have higher chances to move. Our first findings indicate that this is also the case within the social housing sector. Although waiting time is the basis of the distribution system, our findings show that waiting time is not a relevant factor in explaining the chances for households to move.

In Amsterdam the segregation levels are rising. The social housing sector does not seem to contribute directly to the income-segregation, but our first findings indicate that it does influence the ethnic segregation in the city.

 The analyses are based on the biennial survey ‘living in Amsterdam’ (17.000 respondents) combined with the actual moving behavior of the respondents. To reflect on the outcomes of these analyses we look at the actual spatial distribution of housing and households based on register data.