About 12 per cent of households in Finland live in social rental housing. The Finnish system of social housing is now facing challenges. Finland has reached a situation where large numbers of social rental dwellings are free from regulation because the state housing loans have been paid off, while new production of such housing is unable to make up for this loss. Potentially this means a decrease in the social rental housing stock. Current housing policy discourse sees social housing more as a failed policy than a necessary welfare measure. Such developments can be related to a larger change in the Finnish housing regime. It has entered a phase of retrenchment, where the government withdraws from its previous commitment to housing provision in order to give more room to market forces. Retrenchment has led to the strengthening of one of the basic features of Finnish housing policy, its selectiveness.
England's increasing housing affordability problem, widely described as a 'housing crisis', has become a major public and political concern in recent years. The proportion of social housing has been shrinking for 40 years but there is no political appetite - at least under the current government - to reverse this. Policies are instead addressed at making some private housing more affordable and at increasing access to owner occupation by allowing more social tenants to buy their homes. The government has increased its control over the financial affairs of social landlords, who are responding by concentrating on those areas of activity where control is less stringent.
The role of the social housing sector as part of the German housing system has changed fundamentally since 1950. Social housing in Germany followed a number of common trends and features to be observed in most countries in Europe: delegation to local government, a narrow focus on fragile populations and a reduction in the proportion of social housing. The specific reasons for this are discussed as relating to the German background. Against a background of more and more tense housing markets the paper argues for a revitalization of social housing in Germany without repeating the old mistakes.
Social housing in Italy, its historical and recent developments, and its criticalities are discussed considering both the pre- and the post-crisis period. The main effects of the crisis on Italian households and the exacerbating of housing problems are also analysed. A critical review of the main policy instruments implemented before and after the crisis is provided, with a special focus on new models of intervention. It is not clear how the housing needs of low income households will be addressed in the near future. Traditional public-managed social housing has been left with insufficient resources while the newly-built affordable housing sector is mainly targeting mid-income households. Several new policy instruments have been deployed and billions of euros invested. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to observe a consistent strategy oriented to increasing the level of social protection in the housing domain, beyond the conventional management of “emergencies”.
Hungary stepped on a very specific path two years into the Global Financial Crisis and the recession in its wake, on which it replaced ‘traditional’ austerity programs with ‘unorthodox’ economic policy. This policy paradigm shift affected the emerging social housing policy in two respects. First, the mainstream approach to social problems related to worsening housing affordability (due to increased loan repayments and other cost items together with decreasing incomes) provided strong support for the middle class. Second, intervention toward low income households remained minimal, and served only to pacify political tensions. This dual approach characterized the policy of the government, and resulting shift in the social structure did not necessarily follow the direction policy makers intended. Programs aimed at the middle class were poorly targeted, and often helped the upper middle class the most, who again did not behave the way policy makers expected (which would have been increased consumption to stimulate economic growth). Programs aimed at low income groups rendered the social structure more rigid, decreased the chance of low income persons to escape from extreme poverty, and cemented the opportunity discrepancies between the rich and the poor. The most recent housing policy measures suggest that the mistakes committed in the 2000s will likely be repeated, and there are not measures in place which could correct their course.
The goal of this paper is (1) to describe the history and the most recent development of social housing system in the Czech Republic and (2) critically assess earlier and recent attempts to solve missing social housing strategy in this country. In general, the paper intends to contribute to literature on housing policy formulation in countries in transition from planning to market economy and thus provide insight into main factors that may explain unsustainability and weakness of housing strategies in post-socialist environment. Lack of competence, constrained discussion during programme/strategy preparation and the dominance of ideology over rational argument are found to be critical factors for the past and possibly future social housing policy failures in the Czech Republic.
This paper looks at the rationale for social housing; examines the models that have been used in Europe over the last century and how social housing might be maintained into the future.
This paper aims to describe the legislation of the social housing system in Slovakia and to analyse innovations in social housing provision. The paper contributes to the literature on innovative social housing solutions provided by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), or so-called third sector. The analysis reveals the main factors that may contribute to the success or failure of social innovations in housing provision by NGOs. Long-term community work, the education of future residents, and the participation of future residents in the construction of their homes are the main factors that support the spread of innovations in social housing. On the other hand, lack of cooperation from the government at all levels and low funding are the biggest constraining factors on innovation in social housing in Slovakia.