The sale of public and social housing has been a major aspect of housing policies in recent decades. Privatisation and a general retreat by governments from the housing arena have pushed up sales; this has been particularly evident within Eastern European countries and China but is also taking place in many Western European countries and Australia.
Wherever it occurs, such privatisation has lead to new challenges for housing management. Many estates are now a mix of public and private, raising questions about the division of responsibilities between different owners. Legislation to address this is not adequate and public managers are still hampered by the bureaucratic mechanisms within their organisations, while the new owners are not used to their responsibilities for maintenance. Added to this are the limited financial resources for renewal and maintenance among both public and private owners at a time when the need for investments is urgent, especially within the massive housing estates dating from the communist era.
Experts from Australia, France, the Netherlands, UK, Switzerland, China, the Czech Republic, Moldavia, Russia, Serbia and Slovenia present their county's context and the policies and practice for managing privatised housing, together with case studies illustrating the issues described.
How privatised public housing is managed is of international concern, which will benefit from an international exchange of knowledge and best practice. The comparative analysis offered in Management of Privatised Housing: International Policies & Practice makes a significant contribution to the literature on this important topic.
About the Author: Editors:
Vincent Gruis is assistant professor of housing at Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Real Estate & Housing. He has a PhD in Housing and conducts research and is a consultant in the area of housing management and urban renewal. Dr. Gruis has published extensively in well-known international and national journals on housing and his teaching includes MSc courses on Urban Development, Housing Management, Housing Policy and Urban Management.
Sasha Tsenkova is professor of international development at the University of Calgary, Canada. She has a PhDs in Architecture and in Planning. Her research and consultancy experience in housing policy and urban development in more than 30 countries in North America, Western and Eastern Europe and South-east Asia. She is a consultant to the World Bank, the United Nations in New York and Geneva, the Canadian International Development Agency and the Council of Europe.
Contributors:
Frederic Bougrain - Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment, France
Limei Chen - City University of Hong Kong, China
Patrick Dogge - Trudo housing association, The Netherlands
Martin Lux - Institute of Sociology, Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
Vivienne Milligan - Australian Housing & Urban Research Institute, University of Sydney, Australia
Alan Murie - University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Djordje Mojovic - UN Habitat, Serbia
David Ousby - Prospect Row LLP, United Kingdom
Maria Plotnikova - Centre for Public Policy for Regions, University of Strathclyde & University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Bill Randolph - City Futures Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Australia
Richard Sendi - Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenia
Jos Smeets - University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Rob Soeterbroek - University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Joris E. van Wezemael - University of Zurich, Switzerland
