The term social housing has been characterized as a "floating signifier", i.e. a term with no agreed-upon meaning. The lack of a definition often leads to misunderstandings, rather than constructive dialogue on the advantages and disadvantages of such a system. The aim of this article is to contribute to clarity by providing a discussion on the potential defining criteria of social housing and suggesting a definition of the concept. Definitions of the term social housing and descriptions of European social housing systems used in the last eight years will be presented and discussed. Five potential defining criteria derived from the literature are evaluated as to their sufficiency and necessity for a definition.
is a leading Nordic and European research centre for regional development and planning, established by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1997. We conduct solution-oriented and applied research, addressing current issues from both a research perspective and the viewpoint of policymakers and practitioners. Operating at the international, national, regional and local levels, Nordregio's research covers a wide geographic scope, with an emphasis on the Nordic and Baltic Sea Regions, Europe and the Arctic. The Nordic cooperation Nordic cooperation is one of the world's most extensive forms of regional collaboration, involving Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. Nordic cooperation has firm traditions in politics, the economy, and culture. It plays an important role in European and international collaboration, and aims at creating a strong Nordic community in a strong Europe. Nordic cooperation seeks to safeguard Nordic and regional interests and principles in the global community. Common Nordic values help the region solidify its position as one of the world's most innovative and competitive. The Nordic Council of Ministers is a forum of cooperation between the Nordic governments. The Nordic Council of Ministers implements Nordic cooperation. The prime ministers have the overall responsibility. Its activities are coordinated by the Nordic ministers for cooperation , the Nordic Committee for cooperation and portfolio ministers. Founded in 1971.
This paper aims to elucidate the sliding scale between usufruct and ownership by applying a property rights framework to three Swedish forms of tenure in multifamily housing. The framework deconstructs the bundles of rights of rental, tenant-ownership and ownership to highlight commonalities and differences connected to the right to use and exclude, the right to transfer and the right to the value. It is concluded that the three tenure forms have many traits in common but that there are distinct differences in some areas, most notably in connection to the right to the value. The property rights framework applied in the study may be applicable also on a general level as a method to analyze and compare tenures of different types in different countries. Further, ways to improve the framework and cover more facets of outcomes of property rights patterns are suggested.
The housing shortage has become a major political concern in Sweden and Germany. To ease tension on housing markets, both the Swedish and German central governments aim to extend housing supply and have highlighted type approval of multi-family housing as an important concept in the provision of affordable housing.The article outlines the role of serial housing construction in a historical as well as a contemporary setting, and describes the roles of agents and institutional prerequisites related to housing policy, urban planning and building permission in the two countries. The comparative data is analysed using theories on institutional change, with the aim of tentatively explaining why and how institutional change evolves.Results show that shifts in relative prices, technology and preferences are driving reform. Although the major agents (central governments, states, municipalities and developers) have different motives for supporting or working against reform, a majority of agents are acting in favour of reform. It is concluded that it is probable that type approval of multi-family housing will be introduced in both countries. However, the time for negotiations on the scope of reform between agents involved is expected to be shorter in Sweden than in Germany, due to Sweden's fewer layers of government and a stronger set of decisive agents. Once an agreement has been reached, reform is expected to be quicker in Germany than in Sweden as legal text and an assessment institution already exist.
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Homelessness has increased substantially in Sweden in the last decade with an emphasis on structural homelessness. Further, municipalities have the responsibility to house a certain number of newly-arrived immigrants under the Settlement Act. Many municipalities have had difficulties in meeting the acute housing need, as well as its costs, and have started to look at new types of housing solutions. Socially innovative initiatives of the civil society and private developers have been encouraged. This paper investigates three civil society and private housing developments and how they might contribute to socially and economically sustainable housing solutions for households in or on the verge to homelessness. In order to operationalize the sustainability concept related to these local projects, an analytical set of questions have been developed based on the literature and project data. It is concluded that all three projects are socially and economically sustainable at the outset, but that certain traits of the project set-ups make them more uncertain in the longer run. The sustainability lens was fruitful in analyzing the projects, but non-physical factors will in many cases be person dependent and therefore difficult to generalize. As it is expected that this new type of housing in the Swedish setting will increase in numbers, the analytical set of questions should be tested in relation to further projects and be developed further.
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