Housing Markets and Policies Under Fiscal Austerity

The book is timely, and the arguments easy to follow . . . extensive references accompany each title. Choice A most valuable overview of the responses of the housing sector in different countries to changing local priorities. This volume clearly demonstrates the substantial and uneven consequences of recent trends toward greater fiscal restraint. L. S. Bourne, Center for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto The past 15 years have witnessed a period of fiscal austerity in North America and Western Europe. This period of financial restraint has been accompanied by shifts in government housing policy and private investment in housing. This important collection of original articles on the subject will be of great significance to geographers, urban planners, urban economists, and all others interested in recent trends in housing policy. Risa Palm, Professor of Geography, University of Colorado

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction by Willem van Vliet-- Housing in an Age of Austerity by Michael Harloe Part I: The Privatization of Housing Fiscal Reorientation, Centralization, and the Privatization of Council Housing by Ray Forrest and Alan Murie. The Privatization of Housing Renewal: Dilemmas and Contradictions in British Urban Policy by Tim Brindley and Gerry Stoker Part II: National Perspectives Housing Subsidies in a Period of Restraint: The Canadian Experience by J.David Hulchanski and Glenn Drover Housing Policy in the United Kingdom: Efficient or Equitable? by Duncan Maclennan and Anthony J.O'Sullivan Part III: Comparative Studies The Rise of Competitive Mortgage Markets in the United States and Britan by Elizabeth A.Roistacher Housing Provision and House Building in Western Europe: Increasing Expenditure, Declining Output? by Peter Ambrose and James Barlow Part IV: Developments in Housing Tenure Fiscal Austerity and the Expansion of Home Ownership in the United Kingdom by Michael C.Fleming and Joseph G.Nellis Shared Housing as a Policy Alternative: The Australian Case by Patricia Klobus Edwards, Judith A.Jones, John M. Edwards Part V: Housing Subsidies The Aims and Effects of Housing Allowances in Western Europe by Michael J.Oxley The Impact of High Rent-Income Ratios on Other Consumer Expenditures by Sherman Hanna and Suzanne Lindamood Part VI: State Politics and Housing Scarce State Resources and Unrestrained Processes in the Socialist City: The Case of Housing by Bronislaw Misztal and Barbara A.Misztal Conservative Government Housing Policy in Britain, 1979-85: Economics or Ideology by Chris Hamnett Part VII: Politics and Professional Expertise The Changing Pattern of Professional Influence on Local Housing Policy by Barrie Houlihan Politicians and Statisticians in Conflict: The 1980 United State Census by Harvey M.Choldin Bibliography Index

About the Author :
WILLEM VAN VLIET is Associate Professor of Urban and Community Studies at Pennsylvania State University and currently is a visiting professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Review :
?A collection of papers prepared for a 1986 Netherlands Conference on Housing Research and Policy Issues. Primary attention is paid to Great Britain, but the articles also cover policy developments in the US, Canada, Australia, France, and other European countries. There is even a rare critique of housing policy behind the Iron Curtain. The book is a chronicle of declining state involvement in housing. In country after country the authors observe a withdrawal of government support of housing production and a shift in public-policy emphasis toward consumption support. The rationale for supporting individuals rather than buildings is to provide assistance for groups with special needs, but by and large the authors conclude that equity problems have been worsened rather than ameliorated by the change in orientation of housing policy. That is, the common view here is that the widespread switch from production to individual subsidies is actually a mask for decrease in public commitment to housing for the less well off. The book is timely, and the arguments easy to follow ... extensive references accompany each title. Undergraduate and graduate collections.?-Choice ?A most valuable overview of the responses of the housing sector in different countries to changing local priorities. This volume clearly demonstrates the substantial and uneven consequences of recent trends toward greater fiscal restraint.?-L.S. Bourne, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto "A most valuable overview of the responses of the housing sector in different countries to changing local priorities. This volume clearly demonstrates the substantial and uneven consequences of recent trends toward greater fiscal restraint."-L.S. Bourne, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto "A collection of papers prepared for a 1986 Netherlands Conference on Housing Research and Policy Issues. Primary attention is paid to Great Britain, but the articles also cover policy developments in the US, Canada, Australia, France, and other European countries. There is even a rare critique of housing policy behind the Iron Curtain. The book is a chronicle of declining state involvement in housing. In country after country the authors observe a withdrawal of government support of housing production and a shift in public-policy emphasis toward consumption support. The rationale for supporting individuals rather than buildings is to provide assistance for groups with special needs, but by and large the authors conclude that equity problems have been worsened rather than ameliorated by the change in orientation of housing policy. That is, the common view here is that the widespread switch from production to individual subsidies is actually a mask for decrease in public commitment to housing for the less well off. The book is timely, and the arguments easy to follow ... extensive references accompany each title. Undergraduate and graduate collections."-Choice