A new focus on private renting has been brought into sharp relief by the global financial crisis, with its profound impact on mortgage finance, housing markets and government budgets. Written by specially commissioned international experts and s

Originally published in 1985, this book analyses the development of private rented housing in Britain, France, the former West Germany, the Netherlands and the USA. The book shows that the changing fortunes of the private rented sector are seen in some measure to be connected with the social, economic and political conditions which surrounded the rapid industrialisation and urbanisation of the 19th Century.

The privately rented housing market has largely catered for young, mobile people and students since it was deregulated in the UK. In this volume, key writers provide timely insights into this rapidly evolving market. This volume is based on new, original research which brings together specialists in housing policy and legal studies, with their common and increasingly interdependent knowledge base about the privately rented sector and its future direction. The collection opens with an overview of the historical context and recent changes to the sector, such as the rapid and continued expansion of the buy-to-let market, followed by a discussion of the factors shaping the contemporary market. The contributors show how the new regulatory environment is opening a series of issues with significant potential to affect (and potentially damage) the market. The volume will interest academics and students in social and public policy, law and housing studies, as well as law practices and housing authorities.

This book aims to bring rental housing to the forefront of the housing agenda in countries around the world and to provide general guidance for policy makers on how to develop or redevelop a sound rental sector.

The private rental housing market plays an important and growing role in the advanced economies. Providing accommodation for a wider range of households than before the global financial crisis, rental housing is also a key asset class for private individuals and companies, while the rise of Airbnb lettings has pushed up rents and reduced the number of homes available to residents. This edited collection by leading experts in the field analyses recent changes in the private rental market, using case studies from the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA, and assesses the initial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jim Kemeny develops a conceptual framework to present a critical study of comparative rental markets. The framework centres around the concept of the process of maturation of cost rental housing and two policies for handling this which have been adopted by industrial societies. These are, firstly, the Anglo-Saxon "dualist" system, seen in Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and secondly, the Germanic "unitary market" system, seen in Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. Using a comparative approach based around international case studies, Jim Kemeny shows how each system stems from different power structures, is governed by different policy strategies, and is informed by different ideological views of how markets operate. Offering a radical critique of the orthodox view, it is argued that the time is now right for English-speaking nations to abandon state control over cost renting but allow to it to compete directly with profit renting, as in the "unitary market" model. International in scope, this volume should be of interest to researchers in housing, sociology and related fields.

This book provides an anatomy of the nature of private landlordism in the 1980s, types of landlord in the market, scope of their activities, and choices and constraints that guide their actions in the market.