There is a lot of talk at the political and institutional level about social investment and mobilising alternative sources of capital to help fund, well, pretty much everything. Key Performance Indicators are often touted as an essential tool to facilitate private investment in social housing. While I agree they are indeed an essential tool, other elements are also needed.

November is an exciting month for social housing providers in the Netherlands. Every year, with a mix of hope and anxiety, it is when the results of the Aedes-Benchmark are published. This year will be the fourth edition after the benchmark was launched in 2014. The benchmark was introduced to make sure social housing corporations stay alert and learn from colleague corporations. It was a reaction to a series of incidents that plagued the sector around 2010. The sector came under public and political pressure to improve its performances and the level of transparency. The benchmark has proven to be a valuable instrument since then.

Every month we introduce you to one of the people leading the work of our member organisations. In this edition, we thought of introducing you to the President of our new member from Finland, KOVA that joined the family of Housing Europe at our General Assembly in Amsterdam last June. Jaana Närö presents the organisation, gives us information about the perception of housing in Finland and shares some thoughts about the current challenges at national level. Plus, as usual, she reveals her secret recipe for a good life-work balance.