Contents List of tablesviii List of figuresix Acknowledgements x Glossary of abbreviations xi Introduction 1 0.1 Social housing and Europe2 0.2 A failing potential to house the disadvantaged3 0.3 French social housing in a history of conflict5 0.4 Insider-outsider theory6 0.5 Investigating exclusion and inclusion7 1 Social landlords and insider-outsider theory9 1.1 Introducing French social housing actors10 1.2 Introducing social housing allocation16 1.3 Why insider-outsider theory is relevant18 1.4 Insider-outsider theory22 1.5 Conclusion33 2 Exploring the function of social housing35 2.1 European social housing35 2.2 Disadvantage in French social housing 46 2.3 Formulating this study50 2.4 Conclusion56 3 The historical context: from revolution to rights 58 3.7 From revolution to rights59 3.2 The opposition between property and social rights 63 3.3 Social housing and its context 72 3.4 Conclusion83 4 The right to housing in context84 4.1 The legal effects of the right to housing85 4.2 The right to housing and social mix98 4.3 Contrasting approaches in France105 4.4 Conclusion 110 5 Complex institutions in the grip of change 112 5.1 Housing actors in the context of decentralization113 5.2 Planning, construction and contractualization123 5.3 Contracting for divergence127 5.4 Conclusion134 6 Social landlords and their financing problems136 6.7 HLM organizations137 6.2 Insider-outsider theory and rent 143 6.3 Aids to the person and rents 145 6.4 Construction funding and rents 148 6.5 Taxation advantages 155 6.6 Conclusion 156 7 The social housing allocation process 158 7.1 Allocation criteria and demand 159 7.2 Varying regional institutions 166 7.3 The procedure 171 7.4 The allocation commission 178 7.5 Conclusion180 8'Insiderness' and local actors 183 8.1 Applying insider-outsider theory 184 8.2 Insiders 191 8.3 Entrants' chances of success199 8.4 Conclusion 202 9 Stigmatization and outsiders 203 9.1 Which groups tended to be excluded? 204 9.2 Debt and eviction 206 9.3 Household instability and domestic violence 208 9.4 Ethnic minorities and young people 210 9.5 Reviewing exclusionary processes 221 9.6 Conclusion226 10Housing some of the disadvantaged 228 10.1 An exclusionary legal process 229 10.2 'Insiderness' in social housing 235 10.3 Transparency 241 10.4 Social housing and Europe244 10.5 Reform 251 10.6 Conclusion 253 Appendix 1: methodological detail 257 A1.1 Legal considerations 257 A1.2 Survey method and questions259 A1.3 Factors taken into account259 A1.4 The questions asked 260 Appendix 2: allocation principles 279 Notes 281 Bibliography 305 Index 322