IWU / TU Darmstadt
IWU and TU Darmstadt and others
2021
The report on housing policies in the European Union outlines the diverse approaches and characteristics of national housing policies across member states. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical, regulatory, and market contexts that shape these policies. The study aims to facilitate international learning and improve information exchange among EU housing ministers and their teams. It identifies key research questions regarding responsibilities, target groups, housing provision, and the role of the EU in shaping national policies. The research consists of a two-stage expert survey, offering a comparative overview followed by detailed case studies. This comprehensive analysis seeks to uncover structural similarities and variations in housing systems while addressing challenges faced by various countries, ultimately aiming to enhance knowledge and inform future housing policy development.
1 Introduction 1.1 Scope and background of this report Housing policy is a central field of action for almost all member states of the European Union. The form it takes in each country is the product of an individual historical evolutionary path, local market structures, and regulatory framework and funding-policy measures. To assist Germany’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2020, this report aims at providing a comprehensive overview on the different programmatic approaches and characteristics of national housing policies in the EU member states, offering an overview of the interaction of markets, regulatory environment and policy instruments in each national context. In order to facilitate learning from international experience and improve information exchange on national policy options, an informal framework for meetings of the EU members’ housing ministers and their key administration staff (Housing Focal Points) was established. This framework includes the provision of national statistical data and focused information on specific housing-related issues. A successful international exchange requires mutual understanding of the working principles of given policy instruments, regardless of whether these are specific to a particular nation or involve EU directives transposed into national law. This understanding must be based on sound knowledge of both the constitutive structure and the objectives of national housing policies and their further development. Despite their common fundamental goals, housing policies differ considerably in the EU member states. Against the background of national housing stocks and changing housing needs, individual national housing policy profiles have developed over time. However, from a comparative perspective, there is a lack of research dealing specifically with present housing policies in Europe. For this purpose, the project was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI) and the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) and conducted by a project team from the Institute for Housing and Environment (IWU) and the Technical University Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt). The project started in January 2018. The results of the project primarily refer to the state of knowledge up to and including 2018. Since 2020, the United Kingdom has no longer been a member of the EU. In order to comply with the original study design, we decided to retain the UK in the report. Thus, all results refer both to the EU-27 and the UK. Unless otherwise indicated, in this report the “European Union” or “EU member states” refers to all EU-28 member states, including the UK. 1.2 Objective of the study and research questions This report provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of housing structures in terms of provision structures, housing policy goals, problems and challenges, steering approaches and actors. This includes the current status of housing policies in all EU member states as well as recent changes in challenges and responses. The overview is used to identify structural similarities among the housing systems and policies in the EU member states. Against the background of cross-border developments influenced by economic interdependencies and supranational policies the relevance of European activities for national housing policies will also be examined. The research project was guided by the following research questions: Conference version, 6 November 2020 9 What kinds of responsibility for housing policy exist in the EU member states across and at different levels of government? Which actors are relevant for policy formulation and implementation? Which subsegments, target groups and provider structures shape the housing markets and policies of the EU member states? What does housing provision look like in the EU member states and what kind of (common) problems can be observed? What are the guiding principles of housing policy in the EU member states? What policy instruments exist in EU member states and what is their (relative) importance for provision of housing? What reform approaches and trends in the choice of instruments are evident in EU member states? What role does the EU play in the housing systems and policies of its member states? Are housing policies and markets converging or diverging across the EU member states? In addition, selected housing policy issues will be analysed in greater depth: the financial crisis of 2008, tenure relations and tenure dynamics as well as the EU’s impact on housing (cf. Chapter 1.3.2 below). In this project, a narrow definition of housing policy has been adopted for dealing with these extensive research questions. Housing policy in this sense focuses on the quantitative and qualitative provision of housing. It is concerned in particular with availability, accessibility and affordability of housing for different social groups. Other questions with strong ties to housing, e.g. spatial planning, taxation, or general welfare are necessarily beyond this scope. 1.3 Research design The research design is essentially based on a two-stage expert survey, which is supplemented by statistical information. The first stage includes a comparative international overview of housing systems. The second stage examines topics in detail based on a case study approach. In order to validate the results, the working steps were framed by an international workshop and feedback loops with scientific country experts and national Housing Focal Points as well as a scientific advisory board.