The history of Scottish and Dutch social housing policy shows many similarities. However, despite similar general policy aims and a comparable environment of international economic change, housing systems in the UK and Netherlands have diverged since the 1980s (Murie and Priemus, 1994). Dutch social housing is almost entirely owned and managed by non-profit housing associations and co-operatives, in Scotland local authorities have traditionally dominated the sector. This paper considers how the different structures of social housing provision result in different housing outcomes for a city in each country. In particular, it assesses the disparities found between the quality of social housing provision over the period 1981- 2001.