Topic Real Estate and Housing

Heating energy down slightly, climate targets still not met

2nd Workshop on Rent Control

The aim of the workshop is to bring together experts from different countries and different disciplines (economics, history, law, sociology, etc.) whose “common denominator” is their interest in rent control. This event aims to be a forum for discussing rent control experiences around the world. It should also foster a stronger network among scholars, thus facilitating joint research...

Structural Change, Landuse and Urban Expansion

Rent control effects through the lens of empirical research

Rent control is a highly debated social policy that has been omnipresent since World War I. Since 2010s, it has been experiencing a true renaissance, for many cities and countries facing housing shortage are desperately looking for solutions of the chronic housing shortage and direct their attention to controlling housing rents and to other restrictive policies. Is rent control useful or does it...

The Impact of Price Display on Financial Decisions

Credit decisions play an important role for the economic wellbeing of households. However, the complexity of products and varying price information display makes it hard for consumers to navigate this field. Empirical evidence has important implications for consumer protection policies, as many people fail to make optimal choices for themselves and struggle to understand credit cost information....

Factors Affecting Rental Prices in the Russian Empire

In this study, we investigate the determinants of rental prices in Russian Empire prior to World War I and the variation of housing rents across cities. For our research, we use statistical data on 1232 cities in 1910. Our analysis shows that the urban rents in imperial Russia were affected by such city characteristics as its population structure, prices for different goods, and the geographical position. ...

The Hidden Homeownership Welfare State: An International Long-term Perspective on the Tax Treatment of Homeowners

Welfare is traditionally understood as social security decommodifying labour markets or as social investment policies. In the domain of housing, however, welfare for homeowners is largely hidden in the tax codes’ fiscal exemptions. Based on a content analysis of legislation, this article introduces a novel yearly database of 37 countries between 1901 and 2020 to uncover the “hidden welfare state” of ...

The Origins of Rent Control: From Ancient Rome to Paris Commune

Urban areas are confronted with a chronic shortage of housing, especially in the low-rent segment. This precarious situation is further exacerbated by major chal-lenges, like the destruction of housing by wars and natural catastrophes, rapid increase of demand, or a pandemic cutting incomes. In response, the authorities take advantage of rent control that slows down rent increases or even freezes rents. ...

Stimulating Housing Policy and Housing Tenure Choice: Evidence from the G7 Countries

Housing affordability is a hotly debated issue on global scale. A lack of affordable housing of decent quality is a chronic problem in urban areas. Governments try to alleviate it by stimulating homeownership among middle-income households and providing social housing for the low-income households. Such policies are very costly. Thus, this study aims to assess at least tentatively the effectiveness ...

Social Policy or Crowding-out? Tenant Protection in Comparative Long-run Perspective

Private rental markets have become increasingly important since the Global Financial Crisis 2008–2009 and rent controls are back on the political agenda. Yet, they have received less attention from housing scholars than homeownership and public housing. This paper presents new data on the development of private tenancy legislation based on a content-coding of rent control, protection of tenants from ...