#Provadare Transformation of Dutch housing market has some way to go

Legislative changes in the Dutch residential market have created a level playing field for investors and the country's powerful public social housing associations but the transformation of the sector still has some way to go, housing minister Stef Blok conceded on the second day of the Provada fair in Amsterdam.

Blok has worked to liberalise the market in recent years in a bid to compel the social housing sector to concentrate on its core business of providing affordable accommodation to lower-income tenants rather than competing with the private sector in the mid-market rental sector.

However a common refrain from both domestic and foreign investors attending the first two days of the Provada real estate fair this week was that the supply of residential portfolios from housing associations has all but dried up. This comes after an initial flurry with two big sales announced at Provada 2014 and a few transactions earlier this year.

Blok conceded that the liberalisation of the Dutch housing market has not yet been finalised during a discussion event moderated by PropertyEU at Provada on Wednesday.

Interviewed by Dirk Brounen, real estate professor of real estate at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, the minister pointed out he could not directly order housing associations to sell. He had, nevertheless, pushed important regulatory changes through parliament, sometimes in the face of significant criticism from various interest groups. 'Criticism was unavoidable, but it would be far worse if people felt I had done nothing at all,' he said.

'On 1 July 2014 we passed legislation that was the last big change designed to make it possible for housing corporations to sell assets to help create a mature rental market for middle-income tenants,' minister Blok said.

The minister said he would now direct his attention to roadshows to help educate municipal authorities, who have a big say in the social housing associations, about the desirability of selling assets to private investors. Such sales, he said, would generate capital that could be recycled back into the social housing segment of the market.

Blok was joined on stage by two investors, Henk Jagersma, CEO of Syntrus Achmea and Kirk Lindstrom of Round Hill Capital. Jagersma said the minister should be congratulated for his reforms of the market, adding: 'the biggest challenge facing municipalities and investors is how to satisfy the demand for up to 200,000 new homes in the Netherlands over the next decade.'

Lindstrom noted that Round Hill has invested more than €500 mln into the Dutch residential sector since June 2014, and that much of this money will be used to build new stock.