Full of Eastern Promise ‐ Understanding Housing Privatization in Post‐socialist Countries

In a period of economic transition, many commentators have identified the inefficiencies, distortions and inequalities which exist in the housing system of post‐socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. These structural flaws are deemed to be incompatible with the adoption of free market principles and economic liberalization. For economic and political reasons the reform of the housing system has become a necessary and indispensable element of the market reform process. This paper contributes to the growing debate on the context in which housing reform and housing privatization programs have been adopted in Europe's post‐socialist economies. The paper goes on to argue that the introduction of housing privatization and the preoccupation with owner‐occupation has not been based on any overall assessment of what has occurred elsewhere in western Europe or on the experience of housing provision in other advanced western capitalist countries. The economically driven orthodox approach towards privatization and the way this has been translated into the housing system of post‐socialist countries raises important policy questions on the longer term viability of housing provision and the creation of a sustainable housing system.