Regional differences have been increasing in Sweden. Over the last five to ten years, several municipalities have lost well over 1 per cent per annum of their population through a net outmigration to metropolitan regions and university cities. Losses of inhabitants normally have a negative...

This paper explores the impact of housing reforms on public rented housing in Eastern Europe, using Latvia and Ukraine as case studies. The focus on public housing is important, since in both countries municipalities and state institutions are the major social landlords. Rent structures are not...

This paper addresses the meaning of housing and the perception of socio-economic security of different forms of tenure in Sweden and Finland. Household interviews reveal that, in stark contrast to Finland, Swedish respondents think that home ownership is not safer than renting. Few 'absolutists'...

The aim of this paper is to analyse security aspects on home ownership in a European perspective. The conventional view is that homeowners' security is achieved through equity formation in their homes. This opens up possibilities to withdraw equity in order to supplement a faulting social...

Safeguarding the affordability of, and thereby access to, housing is a key issue in housing policies across Europe. Housing allowance schemes have become a more important tool in pursuit of this aim in many countries during the past few decades. This themed issue reports on developments and...