Description
'The book's primary worth is in the wealth of detailed
information provided on home ownership in the eight countries covered. It will provide
a valuable resource for all researchers interested in home ownership. Its broad
scope and its strong research base make it a valuable addition to the existing literature.'- David Clapham (Cardiff University), European Journal of Housing Policy
This book is the conclusion of a body of research that started with a workshop held at the University of York in October 2000, and which resulted in the book Globalisation and home ownership. Experiences in eight member states of the European Union (Doling & Ford, 2003). The collated information lifted thinking beyond ‘politics’, linking developments on home ownership with developments in the financial and labour markets in the context of globalization. It led to the insight that to understand developments in different countries it is indispensable to work with an international research team that has awareness of historical roots and cultural idiosyncrasies.
This was the basis for the proposal called OSIS - Origins of security and insecurity (OSIS): the interplay of housing systems with jobs, household structures, finance and social security - which was awarded funding as a Specific Targeted Research Project under the 6th Framework Programme. This offered teams in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom the opportunity to deepen their studies by following two avenues of research. The first was a quantitative research approach which resulted in the book The social limits to growth: security and insecurity aspects of home ownership (Horsewood & Neuteboom, 2006). The second was a qualitative research approach which focused on households’ perceptions within their own country framework. The main aim of the research was to clarify the extent to which home ownership provides households with security or insecurity. The fruits of this study are presented in the remainder of this book.
