The Strategic Implications for the Randstad of the Dutch Property System

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to decide how well the Dutch are served by their property system and whether it is organisation ally and functionally suited to advancing the competitive position of the Randstad cities within a unified Europe. In the first part of the paper, some of the distinctive features of the Dutch property system are highlighted by drawing comparison with trends and outcomes found in the British and Australian housing and office submarkets. Pricing policy in the Netherlands is outlined, followed by a consideration of some key outcomes including the relative stability of property prices; modest inter-regional price differentials; public benefits of a regulated land supply; occasional breakdown of coordination; indifference towards development gains. Then the property system is discussed in the context of 'internationalisation', subsidies, and coordinated property development within the Randstad. The concluding assessment suggests that at present the Dutch have a de facto, as much as a strategic, land pricing policy; but that so long as inter-governmental coordination and the management of building assets can be improved, it does not make sense to dismantle a system that has served the Dutch comparatively well.