The rise of collaborative housing approaches in England, France and The Netherlands: (How) are national houisng policies responding?

The current development of collaborative housing in a number of North-Western European countries responds, to a large extent, to a series of failures of both housing policies and housing markets, which have accumulated over the last decades. The latter represent the inability of ‘formal’ housing institutions (stretching across market, State and third sector) to satisfy the housing needs and demands of increasingly large and diverse groups of the population. In particular, a structural housing affordability crisis is broadening its effects to include not only the so-called ‘traditional’ housing poor, but also a variety of middle-income groups, especially following the 2008/09 recession and ensuing austerity measures. This begs the question on whether, and to what extent, national and local (housing) policies are connecting with bottom-up housing initiatives. To shed light on this question, this paper will critically assess recent policy developments in England, France and the Netherlands.