Dwelling services, with an emphasis on imputed rent in the European Union (original) (raw)

Housing expenses of tenants and owner-occupiers in Western Europe

Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 1993

This paper discusses the findings of two research projects on the housing expenses of owner-occupiers (Haffner, 1992a,b) and tenants (Menkveld, 1993, which also deals with owner-occupiers). Both projects compare the outlays of individual households in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, and (West) Germany. The comparison of rents includes Sweden too. Here we focus on the structure of housing expenses. Particular attention is given to the influence of subject/rent subsidies and taxation. The rental sector is depicted in greater depth. The distribution of the housing expenses among renters is related to disposable household income. Furthermore, the relation between tenure, amount of outlay, and income level is sketched.

Housing Conditions, States, Markets and Households: A Pan-European Analysis

This article explores variations in housing outcomes in European Union member states that are measured in terms of the quality and affordability of accommodation. It reveals marked north/south and east/west inter-country variations in the outcomes considered. These variations are related to differences in housing inputs and outputs which are analyzed with reference to Esping-Andersen’s (1999) distinction between the three main societal institutions that provide welfare services – states, markets and households. This analysis indicates that poor housing outcomes are associated with reliance on a single driver, i.e. state, market or household. Reliance on multiple drivers – states and markets for instance – is associated with better housing outcomes. However, household-driven housing systems, whether associated with another driver or not, generally result in poor outcomes

Housing in Europe: a different continent – a continent of differences

Journal of Housing Economics

This article provides the introduction to the special issue on 'Housing in Europe: a different continent-a continent of differences' in the Journal of Housing Economics in 2018. Europe is a large continent with a long and rich history, consisting of around 50 countries with vastly different institutional settings and government policies for housing and an abundance of quasi-natural experiments. Some countries have remarkably rich public data and some institutions and policy assumptions are all but the opposite of those familiar to US institutions. In this introduction we briefly outline the seven papers of this issue that exploit in one way or another this extraordinary richness for research. Each paper provides novel insights and has important implications. Collectively, they illustrate the potential opportunities for new and exciting research on housing in Europe.

Economic and Social Development in the New Eu: The Role of Housing Systems and Prospects for Housing Policy

2005

Primary objectives of the EU, re-confirmed since enlargement in 2004, include the achievement of a dynamic and growing European economy allied to a strong commitment to the European social model. This paper examines the role of national housing systems and housing policy in achieving these objectives. Following a brief summary of the main dimensions of the housing systems of EU member states, which emphasises particularly the significance of home ownership, it presents research evidence, largely based on the use of data aggregated at member state level, about the opportunities provided to individual homeowners by virtue of their housing tenure. Whereas some of these opportunities contribute positively to economic growth, for others the aggregate economic consequences are less positive. Moreover, they indicate a major source of inequality in European populations, a fault line dividing owners and renters. The paper concludes with consideration of housing policy and housing policy making in the EU.

European Union Housing Policy—An Attempt to Synthesize the Actions Taken

Sustainability, 2021

Adequate housing conditions are an indicator of a decent life, whereas the lack is one of the main reason behind so-called social exclusion. The importance of housing, in ensuring the social safety of citizens, as well as supporting social equity, has been emphasized for decades. Housing, however, also has an important economic dimension. A developed housing sector, in a broad sense guaranteeing the right to housing, is indicated as one of the main conditions for long-term economic growth. The significant role of housing, in deepening integrational processes on the old continent, has also been observed by the European Union. This article is a review and comprises of an attempt to synthesize arguments justifying the need to expand the European Union policy to include housing-related issues. For this purpose, a historical context of the perception of the role of housing in the process of European integration is presented; it characterizes the main phases of incorporating housing into ...

Rent regulation in 21stcentury Europe. Comparative perspectives

Housing Studies, 2020

The general housing policy trend in Europe has been towards neoliberalization meaning less state involvement in housing market and less government support for housing production. However, private rental markets are still regulated in many European countries. Here, we classify 33 European countries based on rent regulation system and welfare state regime. There seems to be some but not too much correspondence between the welfare state regime and whether rents are controlled. However, it seems that the role of rent regulation depends on the context and one should take a closer look at specific cases. We look at Nordic welfare states that are similar in that all represent the social democratic welfare model but different in their housing regimes by which we mean the basic principles of how housing provision in the country is organized.

Post-Socialist Housing Systems in Europe: Housing Welfare Regimes by Default?

Housing Studies, 2015

This article develops a conceptual framework derived from welfare regime and concomitant literatures to interpret housing reform in post-socialist European countries. In it, settled power structures and collective ideologies are necessary prerequisites for the creation of distinctive housing welfare regimes with clear roles for the state, market and households. Although the defining feature of post-socialist housing has been mass-privatization to create superhomeownership societies, the emphatic retreat of the state that this represents has not been replaced by the creation of the institutions or cultures required to create fully financialized housing markets. There is, instead, a form of state legacy welfare in the form of debt free home-ownership, which creates a gap in housing welfare that has been partially filled by households in the form of intergenerational assistance (familiailism) and self-build housing. Both of these mark continuities with the previous regime. The latter is especially common in southeast Europe where its frequent illegality represents a form of anti-state housing. The lack of settled ideologies and power structures suggest that these housing welfare regimes by default will persist as part of a process that resembles a path dependent "transformation" rather than "transition."