Tenancy law has developed in all EU member states for decades, or even centuries, but constitutes a widely blank space in comparative and European law. This book fills an important gap in the literature by considering the diverse and complex panorama of housing policies, markets and their legal regulation across Europe. Expert contributors argue that that while unification is neither politically desired nor opportune, a European recommendation of best practices including draft rules and default contracts implementing a regulatory equilibrium would be a rewarding step forward.

This book presents an overview of private rented housing in selected new EU member states and other transition countries – a topic scarcely researched to date, as it is largely part of the informal economy, and consequently often invisible to official statistics. Part I presents the private rented sector in Western and Northern European countries, the history of private renting under socialism in Central and Eastern Europe, and thematic issues such as restitution and marginalized groups depending on privately rented housing. Part II provides a series of country case studies from the Central and East European region. Part III concludes with chapters on the possibility of utilizing the private rental sector in affordable housing provision through good practices in both old and new EU member states, and sets out to further the housing policy debate on European housing regimes. This unique edited collection will be of great value to scholars of and practitioners involved in housing policy and economics, urban development, international relations, politics, economics and sociology.

Precarious housing conditions are on the rise across Europe. Precarious housing refers to housing that is either unaffordable or unsuitable, for example, because it is overcrowded, in poor dwelling condition, poorly located or even unsafe. While there is much literature on the strong link between employment and housing insecurity and abundant investigations into different aspects of precarious housing, hardly any attempt has been made so far to provide a consolidated overview of the whole topic and thereby put these different facets into the joint perspective of housing-related poverty. This Critical Guide adds to the debate on causes, symptoms, consequences and possible solutions and makes them accessible for teaching, learning and self-study across multiple disciplines. It is the result of "PusH - Precarious Housing in Europe", a Strategic Partnership funded under Erasmus+. The seven chapters of this book examine a range of themes, focusing on how experiences of precarious housing intersect with other dynamics of precariousness, associated with insecure immigration status, racism and discrimination, class, wealth, and income disparities, and forms of homelessness and displacement. Each chapter draws on examples from across Europe to explore different experiences of precarious housing, and different responses to these conditions.

Introduction: the claim -- How it happens -- Becoming market and people cities -- How government and leaders make cities work -- What residents think, believe, and act on -- Why it matters -- Getting there, being there: transportation and land use -- Environment/economy : and or versus? -- Life together and apart -- Across cities -- To be or not to be -- Acknowledgments -- Methodological appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the authors

The loss of a home can lead to major violations of a person’s dignity and human rights. Yet, evictions take place everyday in all countries across Europe. This book provides a comparative assessment of human rights, administrative, procedural and public policy norms, in the context of eviction, across a number of European jurisdictions. Through this comparison the book exposes the emergence of consistent, Europe-wide standards and norms.

This book explores the emergent and internationally widespread phenomenon of precariousness, specifically in relation to the home. It maps the complex reality of the insecure home by examining the many ways in which precariousness is manifested in legal and social change across a number of otherwise very different jurisdictions. By applying innovative work done by socio-legal scholars in other fields such as labour law and welfare law to the home, Law and the Precarious Home offers a broader theoretical understanding of contemporary 'precarisation' of law and society. It will enable reflections upon differential experience of home dependent upon class, race and gender from a range of local, national and cross-national perspectives. Finally it will explore the pluralisation of ideas of home in subjective experience, social reality and legal form. The answers offered in this book reflect the expertise and standing of the assembled authors who are international leaders in their field, with decades of first-hand practical and intellectual engagement with the area.

In light of demographic change and the growing problems of traditional old-age security systems, this book discusses two essential instruments in connection with privately providing for old-age security: (1) savings in private pension schemes and (2) building up equity for home-ownership. Further, it assesses the relationship between the two instruments and offers a unique overview of the latest market developments. In order to represent the profound differences between the individual member states of the EU, this book features six country-specific studies – covering Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom – that provide detailed insights into the complexity of local private pension schemes, mortgage markets, and housing markets. Lastly, the book discusses public policies and fiscal incentives intended to better integrate residential property with private pensions. It will appeal to both, private households seeking to build up old-age security, as well as policy makers interested in providing secure pension schemes.