Management of social rented housing in Western Europe

The pre-war growth and development of the social rented housing sector in Western Europe was related to substantial quantitative housing shortages, and was largely supported and controlled by central governments. However, since the 1970s there have been reductions in government subsidies for this sector and a shift away from government regulation towards market mechanisms. The greater freedom of the social rented sector to decide its own policy is often accompanied by greater risks. Social housing organisations feel more tension between guaranteeing the financial continuity of the organisation and its social objectives. This paper will examine to what extent and in what way this process of independence in seven Western European countries is being shaped and what this means for the position of the social housing organisations. The focus will be on a number of financial and social aspects of the housing management in the social rented sector.