A major innovation in housing allocation, which was introduced in Delft in 1990, has now been replicated widely across the Netherlands. The allocation system changed from a distribution based on waiting lists to one based on ‘open’ selection from applicants responding to notices of each vacancy. The new model offers some resolution of the inefficiencies and lack of transparency of the old system. This paper discusses the background to this policy reform, details of the new system, and some of the results and concerns that have emerged so far. The results and concerns are evaluated from both the consumers’ and the local authorities’ perspective.