Due to the limited quantitative and qualitative supply of elderly housing and an increasing demand for alternative housing forms, more and more resident initiatives arise in the Netherlands. However, it is evident from these resident initiatives that municipal processes lack focus, cooperation and experience with resident initiatives such as collective private commissioning projects. Therefore, this research aimed to explore how municipalities can better facilitate collective private commissioning (CPC) to respond to the increasing demand for elderly housing in urban areas.

Literature review and desk research were conducted to create a theoretical framework; and to gain more insights into the concept, demand and useful instruments to facilitate CPC projects. CPC can be defined as a social project development method in which a group of future residents jointly have decision making authority and full responsibility for the use of the land and/or the building, the design and (re)development of their own private and public spaces, and sometimes even facilities, in a transformation, renovation, or newly-built housing project.
Based on the theoretical framework, a qualitative study was conducted to discover the motives and experiences of municipalities when facilitating CPC. Seven municipalities were interviewed to create an overview of barriers and opportunities. These barriers and opportunities were made clear based on the theoretical framework.

The results are presented in the form of a list of barriers and opportunities in relation to an instrument quadrant. The findings support the philosophy behind the quadrant: that more than one quadrant results in effective steering. Therefore, the general conclusion on how to better facilitate CPC projects is: to make use of multiple governance and maximize the soft steering aspects. The opportunities that are identified can help (radical, or soft) to better facilitate CPC projects.