In particular after World War II, the housing associations played a key role in addressing the serious capacity shortages. At its peak in the early 1990s social housing in the Netherlands covered 44% of the Housing stock (Boelhouwer and Priemus, 2013). With time capacity shortages have decreased reducing the need for public sector intervention. In addition, public budget concerns and the belief that market provision could generate efficiency gains started a series of housing- policy reforms during the early 1990s (see Boelhouwers and van der Heyden, 1995). At the same time the housing associations that operate social housing have become independent organisations that - conditional on prior approval by public authorities- can take on commercial private activities so they can raise private capital complementary to public funding. These reforms enhanced the independence of social housing associations in the Netherlands: they no longer have to submit project/investment related to social housing for approval by public authorities in advance (Algemene Rekenkamer, 2014).