Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Housing System

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Urban Planning and the Housing Market

  • 3046 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter explains and decodes the key features and operations of the housing system, including the social and economic significance of housing, processes of housing production, tenure, the drivers of housing demand and supply, housing market cycles, submarkets and measures of market responsiveness and failure. The objective is to provide a working introduction to housing systems and the operation of the housing market for those unfamiliar with housing policy or economics (particularly planners and urban policy makers) and for those researchers seeking to understand their own housing systems in international context. This chapter also introduces key concepts in comparative housing research, including the characterisation of welfare regimes and debates about whether housing systems will begin to converge in the face of shared policy challenges arising in the wider context of globalisation (poverty and inequality, demographic change, environmental and climate pressures and the quality of urban life).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Comparing Sweden and Norway, over the period 1996–2011, from Wilcox and Perry (2014) UK Housing Review, Table 8, derived from OECD Factbook 2009: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics and from National Accounts, OECD StatExtracts.

  2. 2.

    The Gini coefficient essentially measures half the difference between every individual income and the average, thus measuring the share of total income which would have to be redistributed to achieve complete equality.

  3. 3.

    China and Hong Kong are omitted, because they are not within the key statistical sources used based on OECD countries, and because Hong Kong is a special case of a city-state within a state.

References

  • Adams, D., & Watkins, C. (2002). Greenfields, brownfields and housing development. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Arts, W., & Gelissen, J. (2002). Three worlds of welfare capitalism or more? A state-of-the-art report. Journal of European Social Policy, 12, 137–160. doi:10.1177/0952872002012002114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, R., & Bridge, G. (2005). Gentrification in a global context. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-32951-4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, M. (1996). Housing investment: Lessons for the future. Housing Research Findings 173. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker, K (2004). Review of housing supply: Delivering stability: Securing our future housing needs. Final Report & Recommendations. London: H M Treasury/TSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beer, A., & Faulkner, D. (2011). Housing transitions through the life course: Aspirations, needs and policy. Bristol: Policy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchflower, D., & Oswald, A. (2013). The danger of high home ownership: Greater unemployment. Cage-Chatham House Series No. 10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bramley, G. (2012). Affordability, poverty and housing need: Triangulating measures and standards. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 27(2), 133–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bramley, G., Munro, M., & Lancaster, S. (1997). The economic determinants of household formation: A literature review. London: DETR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bramley, G., Pawson, H., Pleace, N., Watkins, D., & White, M. (2010). Estimating housing need. Final report to DCLG. London: DCLG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, N., & Theodore, N. (2002). Cities and the geographies of “actually existing neoliberalism”. Antipode, 34(3), 349–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buck, N., Gordon, I., Harding, A., & Turok, I. (2005). Changing cities: Rethinking urban competitiveness, cohesion and governance. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Calcutt, J. (2007). Review of housebuilding delivery. London: DCLG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castles, F. G. (1998). Comparative public policy: Patterns of post-war transformation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chakrabortty, A. (2016). Is Britain a nation of debt bingers? History tells a different story. The Guardian, January 12, 16 (p. 30).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheshire, P., & Sheppard, S. (1989). British planning policy and access to housing: Some empirical evidence. Urban Studies, 26, 469–485.Cheshire, P. and Sheppard, S. (2002) 'The welfare economics of land use planning', Journal of Urban Economics, 52, 242-269. 

    Google Scholar 

  • DCLG. (2014). Evaluation of the new homes bonus. London: DCLG. www.gov.uk/dclg.Dorling, D. (2015) All That Is Solid: How the Great Housing Disaster defines our times and what to do about it. London: Penguin. 

  • Dorling, D. (2015). All That Is Solid: How the Great Housing Disaster defines our times and what to do about it. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyrda, S., Kaplan, G., & Rios-Rull, J.-V. (2012). Business cycles and household formation: The micro vs the macro labour elasticity. NBER Working Paper No. 17880.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, L., & Atkinson, D. (2012). Going south: Why Britain will have a Third World economy by 2014. London: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ermisch, J. (1999). Prices, parents and young people’s household formation. Journal of Urban Economics, 45, 47–71.Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. London & New York: Wiley. 

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. London & New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  •  Fahey, T., & Norris, M. (2011). Housing in the welfare state: Rethinking he conceptual foundations of comparative housing policy analysis. International Journal of Housing Policy, 11(4), 439–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Tabales, A., & Cruz, E. (2013). Territorial analysis of the growth and crisis of the construction sector in Spain and the Andalusian Autonomous Community. Eure-Revista Latinoamericana De Estudios Urbano Regionales, 39(116), 5–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrari, E. (2012). Competing ideas of social justice and space: Locating critiques of housing renewal in theory and practice. International Journal of Housing Policy, 12(3), 263–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrari, E., & Lee, P. (2010). Building sustainable housing markets: Lessons from a decade of changing demand and housing market renewal. Coventry: Chartered Institute of Housing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischel, W. A. (2004). An economic history of zoning and a cure for its exclusionary effects. Urban Studies, 41(2), 317–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick, S., Bramley, G., Blenkinsopp, J., Johnsen, S., Littlewood, M., Netto, G. and Watts, B. (2015a). Destitution in the UK: an Interim Report, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrest, R., & Kearns, A. (2001). Social cohesion, social capital and the neighbourhood. Urban Studies, 38(12), 2125–2143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallent, N., & Tewdwr-Jones, M. (2007). Decent homes for all: Planning’s evolving role in housing provision. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galster, G. (2012). Driving Detroit: The quest for respect in the motor city (metropolitan portraits). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Glass, R. (1964). London: Aspects of change. London: MacGibbon & Kee.Hall, P. & Soskice, D. (2002). Varieties of Capitalism: the institutional foundations of comparative advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. & Soskice, D. (2002). Varieties of Capitalism: the institutional foundations of comparative advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, M., & Bramley, G. (1986). Analysing social policy. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hills, J. Le Grand, J., & Piachaud, D. (2002). Understanding social exclusion. ed. 2002, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutton, W. (2011). Them and us: Changing Britain – why we need a fair society. London and Boston: Little Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • IMF. (2014). Inequality seriously damages growth, IMF hears. IMF Survey Magazine, 12 Apr 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). (2015). Climate change 2014: Synthesis report and summary for policymakers. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/AR5_SYR_FINAL_SPM.pdf

  • Jenks, M., & Jones, C. (2010). Dimensions of the sustainable city. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenks, M., Burton, E., & Williams, E. (1996). The compact city: A sustainable urban form? Spon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemeny, J. (1981). The myth of home ownership. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemeny, J. (1995). From public housing to the social market: Rental housing strategies in comparative perspective. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kemp, P., & Kofner, S. (2010). Contrasting varieties of private renting: England and Germany. International Journal of Housing Policy, 10(4), 379–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lansley, S. and Mack, J. (2015). Breadline Britain: the rise of mass poverty. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  •  Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a new science. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, P. (2013). Housing market renewal: Evidence of revanchism or a response to ‘passive revanchism’ supporting ‘citizenship of place’? Housing Studies, 28(8), 1117–1132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, I. O., & Painter, G. (2013). What happens to household formation in a recession? Journal of Urban Economics, 76, 93–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Grand, J., Propper, C. and Smith, S. (2008). The Economics of Social Problems. 4th edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leishman, C. (2003). Real estate market research and analysis. Basingstoke: Palgrave-MacMillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Meen, G. (2001). Modelling spatial housing markets: Theory, analysis and policy. Boston/Dordrecht/London: Kluwer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Meen, G. (2011). A long run model of housing affordability. Housing Studies, 26(7–8), 1081–1103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muellbauer, J., & Murphy, A. (1997). Booms and busts in the UK housing market. The Economic Journal, 107(November), 1701–1727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullins, D., Czischke, D., & van Bortel, G. (2012). Exploring the meaning of hybridity and social enterprise in housing organisations. Housing Studies, 27(4), 405–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Needham, B. (2006). Planning, law and economics: The rules we make for using land. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, A. C. (2009). The new urbanity: The rise of a new America. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 626(1), 192–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2014). Focus on top incomes and taxation in OECD countries: Was the crisis a game-changer? OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/OECD2014-FocusOnTopIncomes.pdf

  • Paciorek, A. D. (2013). The long and the short of household formation. Finance and Economics Discussion Series. Divisions of Research & Statistics and Monetary Affairs. Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Picketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty-first century. Translated by A. Goldhammer. Cambridge: Belknap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierson, J. (2002). Tackling social exclusion. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Priemus, H., & Gruis, V. (2011). Social housing and illegal state aid: The agreement between European Commission and Dutch Government. International Journal of Housing Policy, 11(1), 76–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohe, W. M., Van Zandt, S., & McCarthy, G. (2013). The social benefits and costs of homeownership: A critical assessment of the research. In R. Tighe & E. J. Mueller (Eds.), The affordable housing reader (Vol. 40, pp. 196–213). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romero, J., Jimennez, F., Villoria, M., & Villoria, M. (2012). (Un)sustainable territories: Causes of the speculative bubble in Spain (1996–2010) and its territorial, environmental, and sociopolitical consequences. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 30, 467–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, R. (2008). The ideology of home ownership: Homeowner societies and the role of housing. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeldt, O. (2013). Governance of relocation: An examination of residential relocation processes in housing market renewal areas in England. Housing Studies, 28(2), 338–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaxson, N. (2011). Treasure Islands: Tax havens and the men who stole the world. London: The Bodley Head.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, N. (1996). The new urban frontier: Gentrification and the revanchist city. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Standing, G. (2011). The Precariat: The new dangerous class. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, M. (2011). Tackling housing market volatility in the UK. Report of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Housing Market Taskforce. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, M., & Norris, M. (2013). Meaning and measurement in comparative housing research. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. (2012). The price of inequality. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talen, E. (2010). Affordability in new urbanist development: Principle, practice, and strategy. Journal of Urban Affairs, 32(4), 489–510.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tewdwr-Jones, M. (2012). Spatial Planning and Governance: Understanding UK Planning. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  •  Torgesen, U. (1987). Housing: The wobbly pillar under the welfare state. In J. Kemeny, B. Turner, & L. Lundqvist (Eds.), Between state and market: Housing in the post-industrial era (pp. 116–128). Stockholm: Angqvist and Wiksell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Ewijk, C., & Van Leuwensteijn, M. (2009). Homeownership and the labour market in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, C., Scanlon, K., & Lunde, J. (2014). The impact of the financial crisis on European housing systems: A review. Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS). Report No. 2. ISBN 978-91-86107-46-8. www.sieps.se

  • Wilcox, S. & Perry, J. (2015). UK Housing Review 2014. Coventry: Chartered Institute of Housing.

    Google Scholar 

  •  Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2009). The spirit level: Why more equal societies almost always do better. London: Allen Lane.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Architecture Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales, Australia

    Nicole Gurran

  2. School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

    Glen Bramley

Authors
  1. Nicole Gurran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Glen Bramley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gurran, N., Bramley, G. (2017). The Housing System. In: Urban Planning and the Housing Market. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46403-3_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation