housing developments in european countries - Department of ...

Section 1
Introduction and Summary
Introduction and Summary Section 1
outlines the principal aims of housing policy at the
National Report on Housing Developments in
■ housing policy issues, such as arrangements for
To some extent this divergence in GDP per capita is
current time, together with the arrangements for policy
European Countries – Responses to the Questionnaire
housing policy development and implementation
counterbalanced by variations in annual growth in
development and implementation and the characteris-
Survey.
and recent housing policy developments, and
GDP. TABLE 1.4.1 indicates that the GDP of the 28
tics of the housing stock in each of the 28 countries
under examination. The most significant contemporary
economic and demographic trends pertinent to housing
are also examined. SECTION 3 sketches recent housing
policy and legislative and institutional developments in
European countries and examines the issues that are
the subject of national housing policy debates and are
When housing ministries were unable to produce the
data necessary to complete all Sections of this report,
the requisite information was generated by the authors
from 4 other sources. These are:
■ the Eurostat – long-term indicators series –
‘People in Europe’;
■ the outcomes produced by the combination of these
policy interventions and structural factors, including
trends in housing demand and supply, housing costs
and public expenditure on housing.
1.4.1 Context
countries under examination grew by 2.8%. This falls
to 1.7% in the case of the 15 long-standing EU
members, but rises to 4.6% for the 10 countries which
acceded to EU membership in 2004. At the same time,
unemployment and inflation rates are generally higher
in the new EU member States. Among the 28 countries
under examination annual inflation averages at 3.4%,
currently of key concern to housing ministers. This
Section also scrutinises changes in regulations on
building standards and reports on EU and
international developments which have implications
for housing policy in European countries. SECTION 4
examines the outcomes of the housing policy
developments in European countries which were
described in the previous Section. Recent macro and
micro trends in the demand for and the supply of
housing are scrutinised, as are difficulties in matching
supply and demand, together with the measures which
have been initiated to address these difficulties, if any.
Trends in housing affordability across Europe are
outlined and developments in relation to the
maintenance and improvement of the housing stock
and the sale of social housing are reviewed.
1.3 Research Methods
Most of the information in this report was collated
from the results of a questionnaire which was
circulated in February 2004 by the Irish Department of
the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to
the housing focal points in the 28 countries under
examination. APPENDIX 1 to this report includes details
of the representatives of housing ministries – known as
housing focal points – who participated in this
exercise. The questionnaire employed in this research is
similar in content to the questionnaires on which the
previous synthesis reports on Housing Developments
in European Countries, referred to above, were based.
A copy of the questionnaire is included in APPENDIX 2
to this report, while the responses which the various
European countries made to the questionnaire survey
■ the Regular National Report on Housing
Developments in European Countries produced
by Belgium in 2002;
■ Housing Statistics in the EU 2002, which was
produced by the Department of Housing of the
Direction General of Planning, Housing and
Heritage of the Walloon Region of Belgium, and
■ UNECE (2002) Annual Bulletin of Housing and
Building Statistics for Europe and North America,
Vol. XLI (Geneva: United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe).
Comparing housing developments in such a wide
variety of countries is a challenging task. Comparable
data were not always available for all of the countries
under examination. For this reason, the information
presented in some of the tables in this report does not
add up to 100%. Moreover, in some cases, the
terminology used may have an entirely different
meaning in different countries. In order to address this
latter problem, a comprehensive glossary is included,
explaining the key terms and abbreviations employed
in this report.
1.4 Summary
This Section summarises the most significant recent
housing developments in European countries which are
identified in this report. This synopsis is divided into
three parts. These are:
■ the context for housing policy-making, including:
economic and demographic trends pertinent to
housing and the size and characteristics of the
TABLE 1.4.1 outlines recent economic and demographic
trends pertinent to housing in the 28 countries under
examination in the latest year for which data are
available.
In this table, the GDP per capita (in Purchasing Power
Standards) among the 28 countries under review is
ranked in accordance with the average for the 25 EU
member States, which is set at 100. TABLE 1.4.1 reveals
that, in the latest year for which data are available,
Luxembourg had by far the highest GDP per capita
among the countries under examination, while Ireland
and Denmark respectively have the second and third
highest levels of GPD per capita. In contrast, the
applicant countries – Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania –
have the lowest GDP per capita among the countries
under examination.
This table also highlights a disparity between the
average GDP per capita of the 15 long-standing EU
member States and the new member States. Among the
15 long-standing EU member States, GDP per capita
averages at 116.6, whereas the equivalent figure for the
10 new member States is 60.3. However, more detailed
analysis reveals that the latter figure is significantly
inflated by Malta and Cyprus, because in both of these
countries the GDP per capita is significantly above the
average for the 10 new EU member States. The average
GDP per capita among the 8 Central and Eastern
European (CEE) countries which joined the EU in 2004
(i.e. the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) is 53.
Although it is important to acknowledge that the GDP
of these countries does also vary significantly.
but the equivalent figures for the 15 long-standing EU
members and the 10 new EU members are 2.3% and
3.6% respectively.
TABLE 1.4.1 also highlights some recent demographic
developments that have significant implications for
housing in the countries under examination. For
instance, in recent years population change has been
low in the majority of European countries, and has
been negative in several of the new member States and
applicant countries. Among the 28 countries under
review, natural population change per 1,000
inhabitants averages at 1.2, while net migration per
1,000 inhabitants averages at 2. In the 15 longstanding
EU members natural population change
averages at 1.7. This falls to –0.7 among the 10 new
EU member States, and to –2.6 among the 8 Central
and Eastern European countries which joined the EU
in 2004. Table 1.4.1 reveals similar patterns in net
migration per 1,000 inhabitants. In Latvia, Lithuania
and Romania emigration has exceeded immigration in
recent years.
TABLE 1.4.1 demonstrates that the average household
size among the 28 countries under review is 2.6
persons. Unlike many of the other economic and
demographic issues mentioned above, average
household size does not vary significantly between the
new and long-standing EU member States. Average
household size is highest in Spain, Malta and Cyprus,
while it is lowest in Germany and Denmark. Moreover,
Section 2 of this report reveals that, in many of the
countries where average household size has
traditionally been high, it has fallen significantly in
recent years.
are recorded in a separate document entitled Regular
housing stock;
2 European Union Report
Regular National Report on Housing Developments in European Countries
3