The Politics of Middle-Class Housing: Comparing the Dutch and Polish Attempts to Support Housing for the “Squeezed Middle”

This paper investigates the extent to which different housing regimes address the challenges faced by the ‘squeezed middle’, and how they do so. Drawing from Jim Kemeny’s theory of housing regimes, the paper compares housing policies implemented since 2015 in the Netherlands, representing a unitary regime, and Poland, characterised as a dualist regime. It reveals that, while both countries have attempted to help middle-income households access below-market-rate housing, they have taken contrasting policy approaches. In Poland, after failed attempts to shift from a dualist to a unitary regime, policies ultimately reemphasized homeownership, leaving the market rental sector unregulated. Conversely, recent Dutch policies have reinforced the unitary regime by expanding the affordable housing sector to include middle-income earners. Overall, the study highlights a growing trend towards housing policies targeting the middle class. Moreover, the findings underscore the relevance of Kemeny’s housing regime typology in Poland and its continued pertinence in the Dutch context.