Housing Liberalisation and Gentrification: The Social Effects of Tenure Conversions in Amsterdam

Abstract

Privatisation and liberalisation of the housing market are often used as governmental strategies for engineering the social composition of urban neighbourhoods. Drawing on longitudinal register data, this study reports findings from the highly‐regulated housing context of Amsterdam. Through regression modelling and GIS analyses, we demonstrate that tenure conversions from rent to owner‐occupancy are not just bringing about changes in social‐class composition, but also affect the ethnic and demographic compositions. Moreover, conversions from rent to ownership have highly spatially‐specific effects. Our evidence suggests that tenure conversions may contribute to gentrification in the inner‐city of Amsterdam, while conversions in post‐war neighbourhoods do not lead to a social upgrading and may even facilitate downgrading. Furthermore, trends in the converted section of the housing market are not just mirroring income developments but also seem to reflect trends in ethnic segregation and demographic trends such as a renewed interest among families to live in the inner‐city.

A Window on the (Changing) Neighbourhood: The Role of Pubs in the Contested Spaces of Gentrification

“…The sale of formerly housing association dwellings to the private market has been one of the mechanisms for furthering gentrification in neighbourhoods (Boterman & van Gent ; Huisman; ). In the Netherlands, much more so than in other countries, gentrification is seen as being top‐down, government led, rather than being demand‐driven and a process originating from middle‐class households themselves.…”

Wither the ‘Undivided City'? An Assessment of State‐Sponsored Gentrification in Amsterdam

“…Not only did most tenure conversions take place in historical central areas prone to gentrification, they are also most likely to accelerate gentrification in such areas. As Boterman and Van Gent note (, p. 140), ‘tenure conversions may contribute to gentrification in the inner‐city of Amsterdam, while conversions in post‐war neighbourhoods do not lead to a social upgrading and may even facilitate downgrading’.…”

State-led Gentrification and the Changing Geography of Market-oriented Housing Policies

“…In this case, local authorities may opt instead for other interventions in the housing stock that better suit this goal. Particularly in cities and neighbourhoods where the social rental housing stock is relatively large, local authorities can play a crucial role in spurring gentrification through encouraging the sale of social rental housing or the removal of rent controls (Hamnett and Randolph 1984;Andersson and Turner 2014;Boterman and van Gent 2014). By bringing former social rental housing onto the market, these dwellings may become accessible to higher income households, since eligibility for social rental housing is generally restricted to lower income households.…”