Home‐ownership, housing regimes and income inequalities in Western Europe

Abstract

Norris M, Winston N. Home‐ownership, housing regimes and income inequalities in Western Europe This article compares the structural features of home‐ownership systems in European Union 15 (EU15) countries (home‐ownership rates, mortgages and public subsidisation of this tenure) with data on inequalities in outcomes (variations in home‐ownership access, risks and standards between income groups). Its purpose was to assess the relevance of the debate on the convergence and divergence of housing systems, which has dominated the comparative housing literature. The article concludes that, depending on the level of analysis adopted and the particular variables selected for examination, elements of both convergence and divergence are evident in Western European home‐ownership systems. The comparative housing literature has also largely failed to capture the key inter‐country cleavages in home‐ownership systems that are between the Northern and Southern EU15 countries. These shortcomings are related to methodological and conceptual problems in the literature.

Theory of Housing, From Housing, About Housing

“…For example, a great deal of recent research on home ownership in Europe and Australia has focused on housing equity: how equity is made use of by owner-occupiers (Naumanen and Ruonavaara 2016), how equity is distributed between different social groups (Norris and Winston 2012), to what extent households perceive housing wealth as providing security at old age (Naumanen, Perista, and Ruonavaara 2012), whether governments are starting to reformulate welfare policies towards housing asset-based welfare (Doling and Ronald 2010). These questions have centrally to do with housing and therefore, they can be seen to fall into the scope of housing research.…”

Housing Inequality and Social Class in Europe

“…It is well known that in nations where housing is largely distributed through the market, people with lower incomes, less wealth or less access to credit (typically due to inferior employment positions) will have fewer housing choices. The people who are and have less social and economic resources typically have less desirable or poorer housing conditions than others; will find it harder to enter or be more likely to leave home-ownership; and are more likely to be found in rented tenures (Norris, Winston, 2012). Dewilde and de Decker (2013) state that in countries with a more marketized housing regime, lowincome households will have less access to 'decent and affordable housing', both in absolute terms and relative to high-income households And more strongly that a stronger trend towards marketization -however conceptualized (in a weak or a strong way) -negatively affects the access to decent and affordable housing for low-income households, both in absolute terms and compared to high-income households.…”

La dimensión económica de la exclusión residencial: Cataluña en el contexto europeo

“…Por el contrario, Portugal y Alemania fueron los únicos países comunitarios donde los precios reales se mantuvieron estables o incluso descendieron levemente a lo largo de este periodo. Esta fase de expansión del mercado residencial, por lo general, fue acompañada por un incremento del ritmo de construcción de nuevas viviendas, de transacciones de compraventa y, por consiguiente, también de la deuda hipotecaria de los hogares (EMF, 2013;Liu y Rosenberg, 2013;Norris y Winston, 2012).…”