Our results

Integrating residential property with private pensions in the EU
CHEC participated in this research project, which was funded by the European Commission, DG Employment. In this project (under the programme “Promoting the contribution of private savings to pension adequacy”), university partners from 6 EU Member States (Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK) explored housing assets and pensions. We analyzed the different forms of housing equity release in terms of attractiveness and feasibility for both consumers and providers. Marja Elsinga, Marietta Haffner and Joris Hoekstra from TU Delft participated in this research project. TU Delft (Joris Hoekstra) was responsible for the coordination of the work stream on consumer demand. Within this work stream, focus groups among older home owners were carried out in all six participating EU countries.

Please click here for the final report: https://www.equity-release.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Final-report-2018-01-29.pdf

And the annex https://www.equity-release.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Final-report_Annex_2018-01-29.pdf 

Website: https://www.equity-release.eu/

Towards a new system of housing allowances
The aim of the project which started at the end of 2016 was to develop proposals for a future system of housing allowances in Flanders together with researchers collaborating in The Policy Research Centre Housing in Flanders. Marietta Haffner co-developed the conceptual framework and contributed to the international literature study.

Supply-side policies for private renting
Together with other researchers collaborating in The Policy Research Centre Housing in Flanders (https://steunpuntwonen.be/english) the project aimed to describe new developments in the private rental sector in a number of countries (Marietta Haffner). A modelling exercise shows the impacts of diverse policy changes for Flanders. The five reports in Dutch are available on under the heading of Steunpunt Wonen (2016), Een nieuwe rol voor de private huur, Steunpunt Wonen, Leuven: https://steunpuntwonen.be/Publicaties/Aflaadbare-rapporten  

Private rental sector
For the launch of this study (cooperation with London School of Economics and Cambridge University, UK) in Copenhagen linked to the presentation of the printed version of the report (http://www.bvc.dk/english/Pages/Publications.aspx), Marietta Haffner contributed with her presentation on the drivers of change and recent developments in Dutch private renting. Private renting is on the move, was one of the conclusions; as was: governments across Europe are seeking to increase institutional investment in the private rented sector through the use of tax reliefs, guarantees and other support. As the majority of private landlords are individuals or small companies, this can be considered quite an ambition. 

Towards a cost-effective housing policy for Flanders and Europe
This study for EC DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion aimed to  develop a theoretical framework for the comparison of a range of policy instruments on addressing housing needs and to test the concepts with policy makers and stakeholders to make them suitable for the Flemish context. Next to the Steunpunt Wonen, a broad range of partners  in Europe and Flanders are involved. The final report was published in English and a short version in Dutch: http://hiva.kuleuven.be/en/research/research-projects/2014-2016-towards-a-cost-effective-housing-policy-for-flanders-and-europe-ec.

Housing Review 2015
Habitat for Humanity presented the Housing Review 2015. Affordability, Livability, Sustainability at its 3rd Europe Housing Forum – Helping Set Europe’s Housing Agenda in Berlin in November of 2015. Delft CHEC contributed the Affordability chapter to the Housing Review 2015. 

CHEC contribution to 'New life for Ageing Cities' Conference, April 2015
In 2013 TU Delft and South China University of Technology (SCUT) created a joint research centre on Urban Systems and Environment. The joint centre provides a platform for research projects and advanced training on urban systems that provides practical contributions to the challenges of city planning and management in contexts of high urbanisation as in north-west Europe and Pearl River Delta

The USE Centre is bringing together researchers in the Netherlands and China with partners in government and private institutions to work on topics of joint interest. In 2015, two joint conferences of the USE Centre concentrate on the critical issue of ‘ageing cities’. This report summaries the contributions to the first conference held at TU Delft in April 2015. It provides information on the expertise that partners in the Netherlands and China bring to this general problem for cities from a wide range of disciplines. Marja Elsinga contributed to this conference with her presentation on ‘Housing in a Changing Society’ (page 15/16 of the confereence proceedings).

TENLAW
Private tenancy law is existentially affecting the daily lives of European citizens, as about one third of them depend on rental housing. That notwithstanding, it constitutes a nearly blank space in comparative and European law. This is due to its national character, its political nature and its embeddedness in widely diverging national housing policies, which ultimately reflect different welfare state models. At the same time, however, different parts of EU law and policy do affect tenancy law significantly, albeit indirectly. Thus, EU social policy against poverty and social exclusion extends to selected issues of housing policy. This project studies tenancy law in Europe from a law and a housing perspective. Delft-CHEC is involved in the study of Dutch and French tenancy law from a housing perspective. More information TENLAW.

Prospects for investment in social housing
The research will seek explanations for the current level of institutional investment in social housing and ask what needs to be done to increase investment in the UK.  Delft-CHEC will contribute to the project that is led by CCHPR of Cambridge University by interviewing experts in France, Germany and the Netherlands. These interviews will identify the main factors (e.g., government policies, specific financial models) that help to attract/sustain the institutional investment in social housing.

First results have been presented at the following meetings:

Housing taxation (reports in Dutch) with KU Leuven (led by CES), Belgium
Belgium will devolve the responsibility and the budget for the favorable income tax treatment of owner-occupied dwellings to its administrative regions by 1 January 2015. In this project the Region of Flanders is provided with option how to (re)design their housing taxation and what the impacts would be of different scenario’s on government budgets, household affordability and house prices. 

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