At the beginning of the third millennium, housing companies face a huge challenge. Throughout Eur... more At the beginning of the third millennium, housing companies face a huge challenge. Throughout Europe there are approximately 80,000 post 1945 estates encompassing a total of 56 million dwellings (Eriksson & Dekker, 2000). A substantial amount of these areas suffer from similar problems. There is an increasing tendency for ‘mainstream’ residents to turn away from mono-functional ‘dormitories,’ which often consist of low comfort small flats and inflexible structures. As a consequence, many of these neighbourhoods are increasingly characterised by over-ageing, social segregation, unemployment and, commonly in its wake, vandalism and alienation. This eventually leads to high vacancy rates and a reduced value of the property (European Commission, 1996). It is mostly up to the housing companies to fight these problems within their countries’ political frameworks and to act in a sustainable way.
The chapter provides the broader context for analysing the private rental sector (PRS) in post-so... more The chapter provides the broader context for analysing the private rental sector (PRS) in post-socialist countries from a Western European perspective, with an overview of the different meanings of PRS, and the legal-economic relationship of the actors in the context of national housing regimes. The chapter then describes the four dominant housing policy approaches of the last century that have impacted the changing position of the PRS. The key areas of housing policy interventions are presented that explain the development of the sector; then an overview of PRS development is provided in countries where either a large PRS has been preserved into the twenty-first century or where its market share has significantly increased recently. The final section presents insights on the sector’s expected future development.
At the beginning of the third millennium, housing companies face a huge challenge. Throughout Eur... more At the beginning of the third millennium, housing companies face a huge challenge. Throughout Europe there are approximately 80,000 post 1945 estates encompassing a total of 56 million dwellings (Eriksson & Dekker, 2000). A substantial amount of these areas suffer from similar problems. There is an increasing tendency for ‘mainstream’ residents to turn away from mono-functional ‘dormitories,’ which often consist of low comfort small flats and inflexible structures. As a consequence, many of these neighbourhoods are increasingly characterised by over-ageing, social segregation, unemployment and, commonly in its wake, vandalism and alienation. This eventually leads to high vacancy rates and a reduced value of the property (European Commission, 1996). It is mostly up to the housing companies to fight these problems within their countries’ political frameworks and to act in a sustainable way.
The chapter provides the broader context for analysing the private rental sector (PRS) in post-so... more The chapter provides the broader context for analysing the private rental sector (PRS) in post-socialist countries from a Western European perspective, with an overview of the different meanings of PRS, and the legal-economic relationship of the actors in the context of national housing regimes. The chapter then describes the four dominant housing policy approaches of the last century that have impacted the changing position of the PRS. The key areas of housing policy interventions are presented that explain the development of the sector; then an overview of PRS development is provided in countries where either a large PRS has been preserved into the twenty-first century or where its market share has significantly increased recently. The final section presents insights on the sector’s expected future development.
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