Housing decommodification vs. housing outcomes: a comparative study of the European countries

Abstract

The paper proposes a conceptual framework for evaluation of the degree of housing decommodification in current welfare states. It presents the findings of an empirical analysis that employs a wide range of institutional characteristics, both quantitative and qualitative, and covers 31 European countries. A statistical explanatory technique is employed to distinguish between three groups of countries: precommodified, commodified and decommodified. To answer the question whether there is a nexus between state decommodifying housing policies and outcomes such as housing affordability, tenure distribution and housing conditions, the results are compared against housing outcomes in the countries studied. A quite clear pattern can be identified only in regard to tenure distribution. This suggests that there is a linkage between housing (de)commodification and housing wealth accumulation. The configurations of two other categories of housing outcomes, i.e. housing affordability and housing conditions, do not coincide so clearly with the identified decommodification arrangements.