Home ownership in recession

Since 1989, the home ownership sector in Britain has experienced a number of changes which would have been dismissed in advance as unlikely. Falling levels of transactions, falling house prices and falling new construction have been accompanied by rising mortgage arrears, rising repossessions and the emergence of home owners with negative equity. The impact of these changes on the wider economy has also contributed to a reassessment of home ownership. This paper outlines the key changes which have affected the home ownership sector in Britain and considers whether these changes are affecting attitudes to home ownership and state intervention to sustain the tenure. It also argues that the changes have been of sufficient duration to be regarded as more than a short‐term ‘blip’ and demonstrate the need to review some accounts of the tenure.     

Home ownership undermined?

The Finnish home ownership sector, proportionately one of the largest in Europe, experienced a boom in the late 1980s, followed by a slump characterized by falling and static prices, arrears, and reduced transactions. The paper addresses the question of whether this can be regarded as a cyclical downturn, from which the market will eventually return to normality, or as a signal of structural change. The slump is largely due to the restructuring of the labour market that has come to erode the basis of the growth of home ownership. The paper examines the Finnish situation against that in Britain which has undergone similar market trends. It concludes that although there have been similar developments in both countries in moves towards low-inflation economies and reductions in subsidies to home owners-both of which could be interpreted as structural changes-their labour market developments show some differences. In Finland the development of a flexible and casualized labour market has been less vigorous. The paper concludes with a discussion of these developments in terms of crisis embedded in the attempts of governments to protect capital accumulation. It also speculates about the generalizability of the findings to other European countries.     

Home ownership,mortgages and psychological distress

Although many studies have established that owning a home is associated with a variety of health benefits (lower mortality and morbidity rates), important gaps in our understanding of the relationship between housing tenure and health remain. In particular, previous research has tended to rely upon single, binary measures of housing tenure (home owners versus renters). These broad categories do not capture the heterogeneity that exists within housing tenure classifications. This paper uses an expanded measure to differentiate home owners with mortgages, from those who do not have mortgages and from those who live in rental accommodation. The results reveal a gradient in housing tenure and psychological distress; individuals in rental situations report the highest levels of distress, home owners without mortgages the lowest levels. Moreover, housing tenure modifies the impact of stress on distress in these data. The findings are interpreted in the context of changes to housing policy in Canada, and the economic climate during the period in which these data were collected. Future research directions are discussed.     

Home ownership policy in Singapore: An assessment

Since independence in 1965, housing conditions in the city‐state of Singapore, with a population of 2.6 million in 1988, have improved considerably. Much of the credit for this must be attributed to the government's policy of building homes for the lower income groups. One objective of the housing policy is 100 per cent home ownership for public housing. In pursuing this policy the political and social aspects are often emphasised. This paper attempts an economic evaluation of the 100 per cent home ownership target. It examines the demand and supply side policies that are employed to achieve the target. In analysing the economic implications of the policy, it is observed that such a policy distorts household expenditure, leads to overconsumption of housing and results in a thinner rental market and constrains tenure choice. These economic losses need to be recognised even while accepting the political and social importance of the policy.     

Inter-regional corporate ownership and regional autonomy: the case of Switzerland

By using a unique database on the ownership relations of Swiss firms, this article proposes a study of specific regional characteristics in that it reveals the way in which ownership is structured. The paper clearly highlights the different ways that regions behave regarding their involvement in these ownership structures, on a national and international level. The types of behaviour can be associated with the various economic specialisations of Switzerland’s regions. Firstly, it appears that the most frequent ownership links occur among firms within the same Regional Production System. It is then noted that the links between the Swiss regions are far less numerous than international links. The international links, by their number and their distribution throughout Switzerland, constitute the main source of discrimination between the regions. The financial region of Zurich masters this ownership issue most competently. It is the most autonomous region in that it is able to maintain control over its economy, to become highly involved in other spaces, and attract the most investments. It would appear that the regions that are the best integrated within the network are those that have been best able to take advantage of the evolution of the Swiss financial system. The low density of the links between the various Swiss regions suggests that these regions organise their relations on scales that are different to that of the nation. This clearly raises questions regarding the policies based on the principle that the growth of the main centres affects the rest of the country positively.

Home ownership and political activism: An interpretative approach

This paper explores the relationship between home ownership and community‐based political activism. It is based on 31 intensive interviews and a case study of community activism in an inner urban neighbourhood of Melbourne. This paper argues that a causally adequate relationship between home ownership and political activism can be specified, grounded in the economic, political and cultural meanings of home ownership. Attention is drawn to the multifaceted nature of this causal relationship, as households bestow a varying range of meanings on home ownership at different times as circumstances change.     

权属档案信息化建设与权属登记质量监控

针对权属登记工作中存在的工作质量和工作效率不高的实际,笔者认为有必要进一步加强权属档案信息化建设,规范权属档案登记管理,并通过这一抓手,建立完善权属登记管理工作的质量保障体系,有效防止和杜绝错案的发生,维护房地产市场秩序,保障房地产权利人的合法利益。     

The limits of housing policy: Home ownership in Australia

This paper provides an overview of the history of owner occupation rates and policies in Australia, starting from the first Commonwealth census in 1911 and continuing to the most recent in 1991, with particular emphasis on the recent past. The ownership rate grew by only a few percentage points between the 1911 and 1947 censuses, but then increased rapidly from 53 per cent in 1947 to 70 per cent in 1961. However, in spite of extensive promotion of home ownership by the Commonwealth and state governments, ownership rates in Australia have been more or less stable ever since. In a re‐interpretation of Australia's experience with owner occupation, we argue that economic and demographic circumstances are much more important than previous policy‐oriented accounts have allowed.     

Home ownership and early retirement: European experience in the 1990s

Throughout the 1990s the general pattern acrossthe EU member states was of expanding homeownership sectors and of falling labourparticipation rates amongst older workers,particularly men. Using macro-level data, thepaper sets out to explain national differencesin participation rates, taken as a proxymeasure of early retirement. Whereas itindicates the statistical importance of anumber of trends – specifically labour marketconditions and government social policies – thepaper particularly focuses on the possible roleof housing tenure. It presents evidenceconsistent with the proposition that, onceowned outright, home ownership may offer theability to live rent-free and to create apension and thus facilitate early retirement. In acting as a sort of individualised providentfund, it may both give some welfare states adistinctive character as well as contribute tothe early retirement of large numbers of peoplefrom the labour market. The paper explores anumber of methodological and policy issuesarising from the analysis.     

Home ownership,foreclosure and compulsory auction in the Federal Republic of Germany

This paper outlines the financial difficulties which home owners in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) have been experiencing over the 1980s. The discussion is preceded by a brief outline of the housing market for owner‐occupied dwellings. The paper then outlines the scale of the problem of home owners in financial difficulties and refers to house prices, housing finance and state subsidies. The extent to which the growth of home ownership has brought owner‐occupation within the reach of middle and lower income households, and the particular conditions of the housing market which affect those home owners who run into financial difficulties are considered. Reference is also made to research which has been carried out into the particular plight of households threatened with compulsory auction proceedings. In the conclusion possibilities for reform of housing finance arrangements and compulsory auction proceedings are outlined.     

Home ownership into the new millennium: A view from the margin

The late 1990s saw the beginnings of a decline in Australia's high rate of home ownership. This trend, especially among younger people, appears to be driven by a complex of economic, social and demographic forces. The paper looks at this development from one specific viewpoint: the phenomenon of mortgage default. Recent data suggests a rise in the number of people falling into arrears on their mortgages, in some cases to the point of default. The paper surveys this outcome and analyses the factors responsible. Data drawn from the experiences of a state government mortgage lender is used to test the factors isolated in the literature as significant in this respect.     

Home ownership into the new millennium: A view from the margin

Abstract

The late 1990s saw the beginnings of a decline in Australia's high rate of home ownership. This trend, especially among younger people, appears to be driven by a complex of economic, social and demographic forces. The paper looks at this development from one specific viewpoint: the phenomenon of mortgage default. Recent data suggests a rise in the number of people falling into arrears on their mortgages, in some cases to the point of default. The paper surveys this outcome and analyses the factors responsible. Data drawn from the experiences of a state government mortgage lender is used to test the factors isolated in the literature as significant in this respect.     

Home ownership as a (crumbling) fourth pillar of social insurance in Australia

Australia is seen as being at the forefront of shifts to an explicit asset-based policy in its approach to maintaining post-retirement living standards, having initiated a move away from an unfunded retirement income system to a universal, funded system in the early 1990s. This move supplemented a considerable implicit asset-based policy based on home ownership. This paper examines the potential that asset-based welfare has to protect households from poverty after retirement by focusing on the role of home ownership in preventing poverty among older Australians and on likely future trends in asset accumulation. It suggests that, although asset-based welfare has the potential to ease the fiscal constraints faced by the state, it may well lead to poorer social insurance outcomes for households with limited saving capacity over their lifetime. Older households who miss out on home ownership are shown to be multiply disadvantaged: they have lower non-housing wealth, lower disposable incomes and higher housing costs in retirement than homeowners and they have significantly higher after-housing poverty rates. Projections suggest that this group will grow in size in the coming decades. These outcomes suggest that Australia’s asset-based welfare system is crumbling.     

Rent increase strategies and distributive justice: the socio-spatial effects of rent control policy in Amsterdam

Rent controls and rent setting regulation in different contexts incorporate and balance different aims, in particular when securing affordability and the effective distribution of scarce housing by incorporating market mechanisms. As rent policy is frequently discussed in terms of affordability or market functioning in broad terms, small-scale distributive socio-spatial effects are often not regarded. In this paper, three strategies under the new rent sum policy are compared against the former policy and practice for Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to observe the effects of distributive justice. The new rent policy partly decentralizes rent increase decisions from the national level to local authorities and housing associations. Using microdata on all social housing units and their tenants’ distributive justice, outcomes under the former policy and practice are observed for a 6-year period (2008–2014) and the effects of three different rent increase strategies under the new rent sum policy are forecasted for the same period, combining an ex ante and an ex post evaluation. The possibilities for housing associations to vary rent increases for different groups of tenants in order to improve distributive justice outcomes are explored. Results show that all three possible strategies decrease the observed affordability gap between new and long-term tenants. Valuing the distributions of these strategies by applying two different standards for distributive justice shows the rent sum policy may only result in modest improvements.     

Setting rent with reference to tenants' affordability: Public housing rent policy in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the housing systems inwhich public tenants' affordability has beenincorporated in the rent-setting mechanism inwhich the median rent-to-income measurement isemployed as an explicit indicator ofaffordability. However, contravening policiesin the public housing sector make such a simplerent-setting formula complicated. A moredetailed analysis of the rent-setting mechanismalso reveals that the arbitrarily picked upreference ratio is incapable of catering forthe wide variety of circumstances amongtenants. At the same time, there is also someinconsistency in adopting a unifiedaffordability standard in different aspects ofrent setting. Lastly, the endorsement ofaffordability as an overarching principle inrent setting is prone to introducecontradictions in the system. The level of rentmay bear a close relation to the circumstancesof the occupants but not to the conditions ofthe dwelling. Affordability as amarket-oriented principle would also weaken thelegitimacy of the public rental sector as abasically supply-side oriented regime.     

略谈建筑房价与年地租问题

本文分析了年地租制对于丰富国有土地使用形式,对解决当前国有土地使用存在的问题以及降低房价所起的作用,并探讨了如何采用 动方式收取年地租以及如何对同一地块上众多业主进行地租分摊等问题。