Jako zástava poskytnutých hypotečních úvěrů (a úvěrů ze stavebního spoření nad určitou výši jisti... more Jako zástava poskytnutých hypotečních úvěrů (a úvěrů ze stavebního spoření nad určitou výši jistiny) slouží nemovitosti (byty, rodinné domy a pozemky), které jsou nejčastěji také předmětem transakce. Odhadní ceny těchto nemovitostí jsou stanoveny odhadci banky (nebo externími odhadci) a slouží jako podklad pro rozhodnutí o poskytnutí úvěru a jeho výše (výše úvěru musí být v přiměřené relaci k odhadní ceně nemovitosti měřené ukazatelem loan-to-value ratio, LTV), o výši úrokové sazby a současně pro stanovení výše rezerv pro případ, že by došlo k nesplácení úvěru a nucenému prodeji zástavy. Z uvedeného je zřejmé, že správné stanovení odhadní ceny ovlivňuje dostupnost úvěru určeného na pořízení bydlení (zda se banka rozhodne úvěr vůbec poskytnout) a následně i jeho cenu (vyšší LTV znamená zpravidla i vyšší úrokovou sazbu). Správné stanovení odhadní ceny přímo ovlivňuje finanční dostupnost vlastnického bydlení pro ty žadatele (domácnosti), které pro jeho pořízení musí využít cizí zdroje (úvěry) a nemohou si dovolit jej financovat pouze z vlastních zdrojů. Současně tak má vliv i na samotné rozhodování domácností o (ne)pořízení vlastnického bydlení a načasování takového rozhodnutí. Stanovení odhadní ceny ovlivňuje i výši prostředků, které banky musí držet jako rezervu pro případ realizace zástav z důvodu nesplácení úvěrů dlužníky, tj. má vliv i na výši nákladů bank a stabilitu finančního sektoru. Výše odhadní ceny a ceny úvěru na bydlení (úroku) ovlivňuje prostřednictvím důchodového efektu výši spotřebních výdajů domácností na ostatní položky spotřebního koše, přičemž tento vliv je s ohledem na vysoký podíl výdajů na bydlení ve spotřebním koši českých domácností relativně významný. Stejně tak se výše výdajů na bydlení odráží i ve výši úspor domácností. Odhadní ceny představují informaci pro subjekty trhu o tom, jaké ceny jsou "akceptovány" finančním sektorem, tj. mohou nepřímo ovlivnit i výši transakčních cen. Ze všech výše uvedených důvodů je proto správné stanovení odhadních cen nemovitostí a sledování jejich vývoje v čase důležité. V říjnu 2018 došlo ke zpřísnění požadavků bank na hodnoty LTV, DTI (debt-to-income, tj. poměru výše dluhu k čistým ročním příjmům domácnosti žadatele) a DSTI (debt-service-toincome, tj. poměru výše splátky úvěru k čistému měsíčnímu příjmu domácnosti žadatele). Tato zpřísňující kritéria byla doporučena ze strany regulátora (České národní banky, ČNB) v rámci makroobezřetnostní politiky snažící se snížit potenciální systémová rizika ve finančním sektoru. Důsledkem této politiky mohl být neformální tlak na "umělý" růst odhadních cen Tento článek byl zpracován jako jeden z výstupů projektu "Zvýšení transparentnosti hypotečního trhu v ČR rozšířením datové základny pro sledování a odhad cen nemovitostí" podpořeného Technologickou agenturou ČR (TA ČR) pod číslem TL03000212.
The housing affordability crisis is one of the most pressing issues in urban centres around the g... more The housing affordability crisis is one of the most pressing issues in urban centres around the globe, affecting especially young adults. Some theorists have in response begun calling for the provision of more public housing or less housing financialisation (free market). The goal of our article is to demonstrate the housing attitudes of Czech millennials towards state interventions that are designed to address the decline in housing affordability, using a quantitative attitude survey and a series of qualitative interviews. The results of our study reveal that young Czechs are sceptical about increased public housing provision as a solution, and on the whole their views align more with the neoliberal ideas, the very ideas that are criticised by critical theorists. We show that there are contextual reasons that explain why young Czechs are not calling for radical policy change -reasons such as familialism, which facilitates the intergenerational transmission of norms, habitus, and resources within families; the legacy of socialism and society transformation; a belief that more redistribution of resources could be unfair; and stronger support for competition, individualism and right-wing politics. There is also, however, some inconsistency and uncertainty in their attitudes, especially between their general worldview and their suggestions for concrete action. This study contributes to the research in the field of youth studies that looks at young people's strategies for dealing with the problem of decreasing housing affordability, and to the discussions surrounding diverse housing policy responses to a common global challenge.
The aim of the article is to map the trend of one of dimensions of social inequalities in the con... more The aim of the article is to map the trend of one of dimensions of social inequalities in the consumption of housing - the trend of regional inequalities in housing affordability in the Czech Republic in the period 2000 - 2006. Due to the lack of relevant data file(s) on household inco- mes and housing expenditures, the authors developed a new method of the housing affordability indicators calculation. The method makes it possible to describe the trend of regional inequalities in housing affordability of owner-occupied housing and rental housing form 2000 to 2006 using the official regional wage statistics (RSCP - Regional Wage Statistics) as well as price and rent statistics (using the price and rent monitoring system of the Institute of Regional Information, Ltd). From 2000 to 2003 the inequalities between regions grew in significance, but since 2003 these regional inequalities in housing affordability have decreased. The second part of the paper focuses on the reasons of the spec...
The impacts of economic crisis on the Czech housing market were, at least till now, relatively mo... more The impacts of economic crisis on the Czech housing market were, at least till now, relatively moderate. In comparison to other developed countries (e.g. Ireland, Spain, Greece, USA, Denmark, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia or Bulgaria) was the decrease in residential property prices only gradual and the default rate is lagging behind the average of the developed countries. The volatility in residential property prices could follow the accumulation of systemic risks of owner-occupied housing, especially the growing share of low-income households with mortgage debts among home-owners. The article therefore aims to answer following research questions. First, was there significant increase in the share of low-income households repaying their mortgages in the owner- occupied housing sector in the Czech Republic after 2005? Second, was there significant increase in ‘innovative’ mortgage products (e.g. interest-only mortgages, mortgages denominated in foreign currencies etc.) on the Czech mortga...
The policy paper contains the proposal for structural changes of several housing policy measures ... more The policy paper contains the proposal for structural changes of several housing policy measures in the Czech Republic. The goal of the reform is to increase policy effectiveness, efficiency, tenure neutrality and anticyclicity. The second section of paper describes the results of large-scale simulations of the reform and its impact on public expenditures and income distribution
In many advanced countries housing consumption plays a significant role in the social stratifi ca... more In many advanced countries housing consumption plays a significant role in the social stratifi cation of households. First, the article sets out to determine whether during the transformation period signifi cant differentiation of housing consumption occurred and social stratifi cation became linked to stratifi cation by housing consumption. In other words, whether alongside the 'standard' criteria (age, education, income, and other socio-economic variables) infl uencing the stratifi cation of Czech households it is also necessary to take into account the type and quality of housing. Second, in relation to these fi ndings on stratifi cation, Czech households are segmented into 12 segments. The article then makes some general prognoses for each household segment regarding the number of households in selected forms of housing and types of housing development for 2020. These prognoses showed that if 'optimistic' outlooks for economic development are met and Czech citizens' housing preferences remain constant, there could be a substantial increase compared to today in the share of Czech households living in family homes and even to a certain excess of supply of rental fl ats over demand.
The aim of the article is an analysis of changes affecting the financial affordability of rental ... more The aim of the article is an analysis of changes affecting the financial affordability of rental and owner-occupied housing over the course of the economic transformation in the Czech Republic. To evaluate housing affordability the authors used housing expenditures-to-income ratios and data files from the Czech Statistical Office. The objective of this article is also to draw attention to the need to modify standard indicators when measuring housing affordability in countries in transition. In this regard the authors particularly note the huge differences in affordability ratios between households living in the so-called 'privileged' and households living in the 'unprivileged' housing market sectors.
Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 2019
According to economic theory, an economically rational market agent searching for permanent housi... more According to economic theory, an economically rational market agent searching for permanent housing in a particular stage in his/her life cycle should base his/her tenure considerations also by comparing rent to the user costs of homeownership, and among flats with otherwise identical housing services and security will select the cheaper of two alternative tenures. Economic theory perceives rental and owner-occupied housing as 'communicating vessels'-a change in conditions in one necessarily entails changes in the other. This is called the 'substitution effect' and represents an important balancing mechanism in the housing market. Our hypothesis is that if the substitution between rental and owneroccupied housing in particular culture/society is weak, then the demand for owner-occupied housing becomes more income-elastic than vice versa. Consequently, in the case of a weak substitution effect, changes in house prices will closely mimic changes in household incomes, while in the case of a strong substitution effect this relationship will be much weaker. We confirmed our hypothesis by employing both a theoretical model and an empirical analysis of price data. If we assume poor responsiveness of housing supply, the main implication of our findings is that in societies with weak substitution effect between owning and renting we can expect higher house-price volatility and thus a higher chance of price bubbles appearing.
Homeownership is believed to cause higher unemployment. This is because homeowners face higher mo... more Homeownership is believed to cause higher unemployment. This is because homeowners face higher mobility costs that limit their job search to local labour markets. Empirical tests of this prediction have yielded mixed results so far, possibly due to the endogeneity of homeownership. This paper documents that the privatisation of public housing in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain resulted in a quasi-experimental assignment of homeownership to individual households. This facilitates a new test of the effects of homeownership on mobility and unemployment. We find only weak evidence that homeowners are less willing to move and no evidence of higher unemployment risks relative to renters.
On the background of current global mortgage crisis the article discusses the housing market theo... more On the background of current global mortgage crisis the article discusses the housing market theory and particularly the methods and indicators used for the evaluation of long-term sustainabilityof house price trends. The authors provide the time series of such indicators for selected OECD countries, critically examine the past research studies evaluating pre-crisis house price development and argue that house price falls present in many developed countries are more the causes than the consequences of mortgage crisis. The change in house price trends in 2007 in many developed countries could be thus interpreted as the result of the previous record houseprice growth, often labeled as a price bubble. In view of this hypothesis the authors try to assess the sustainability of house price development in the Czech Republic, using several indicators,error correction models and different data sources. The methods for construction of reliable house price indices are also discussed here. The ...
The aim of the paper is to discuss selected methodological problems of quantitative comparative h... more The aim of the paper is to discuss selected methodological problems of quantitative comparative housing research. The analysis is based on EU-SILC data and the concept of overcrowding is considered. We used two alternative definitions of overcrowding rate, both based on normative assumptions and each giving slightly different results. We tried to answer the question, which definition is better. The basic idea was that the closer the 'objective' rate of overcrowding is to its 'subjective' assessment, the better the selected method (definition) is. Moreover, it was shown that while in more advanced countries the share of households that consider dwelling space to be a problem is significantly higher than the share of households living in overcrowded dwellings based on 'objective' criteria, in post-socialist countries the opposite is true.
Housing-policy research in European Union countries distinguishes between two kinds of rent contr... more Housing-policy research in European Union countries distinguishes between two kinds of rent control: non-targeted "first-generation" rent control and targeted "second-generation" rent control, the later which better reflects housing market relations. The article demonstrates the drastic consequences of first-generation rent control in the Czech Republic, using criteria of social effectiveness and economic efficiency. The authors present the results of an econometric simulation model on the determination of equilibrium market rents after rent deregulation. Due to a sharp decrease in housing affordability in the Czech Republic, the authors simulate the application of two housing-policy instruments: social housing and housing allowance. A cost-benefit analysis shows that rent deregulation and the application of effective policy instruments would substantially increase the income of landlords, decrease the level of currently biased market rents, and maintain the rela...
The aim of the article is to map the trend of one of dimensions of social inequalities in the con... more The aim of the article is to map the trend of one of dimensions of social inequalities in the consumption of housing - the trend of regional inequalities in housing affordability in the Czech Republic in the period 2000 - 2006. Due to the lack of relevant data file(s) on household incomes and housing expenditures, the authors developed a new method of the housing affordability indicators calculation. The method makes it possible to describe the trend of regional inequalities in housing affordability of owner-occupied housing and rental housing form 2000 to 2006 using the official regional wage statistics (RSCP - Regional Wage Statistics) as well as price and rent statistics (using the price and rent monitoring system of the Institute of Regional Information, Ltd). From 2000 to 2003 the inequalities between regions grew in significance, but since 2003 these regional inequalities in housing affordability have decreased. The second part of the paper focuses on the reasons of the specif...
This article develops a conceptual framework derived from welfare regime and concomitant literatu... more This article develops a conceptual framework derived from welfare regime and concomitant literatures to interpret housing reform in post-socialist European countries. In it, settled power structures and collective ideologies are necessary prerequisites for the creation of distinctive housing welfare regimes with clear roles for the state, market and households. Although the defining feature of post-socialist housing has been mass-privatization to create superhomeownership societies, the emphatic retreat of the state that this represents has not been replaced by the creation of the institutions or cultures required to create fully financialized housing markets. There is, instead, a form of state legacy welfare in the form of debt free home-ownership, which creates a gap in housing welfare that has been partially filled by households in the form of intergenerational assistance (familiailism) and self-build housing. Both of these mark continuities with the previous regime. The latter is especially common in south-east Europe where its frequent illegality represents a form of anti-state housing. The lack of settled ideologies and power structures suggest that these housing welfare regimes by default will persist as part of a process that resembles a path dependent "transformation" rather than "transition."
The impacts of economic crisis on the Czech housing market were, at least till now, relatively mo... more The impacts of economic crisis on the Czech housing market were, at least till now, relatively moderate. In comparison to other developed countries (e.g. Ireland, Spain, Greece, USA, Denmark, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia or Bulgaria) was the decrease in residential property prices only gradual and the default rate is lagging behind the average of the developed countries. The volatility in residential property prices could follow the accumulation of systemic risks of owner-occupied housing, especially the growing share of low-income households with mortgage debts among home-owners. The article therefore aims to answer following research questions. First, was there significant increase in the share of low-income households repaying their mortgages in the owneroccupied housing sector in the Czech Republic after 2005? Second, was there significant increase in ‘innovative’ mortgage products (e.g. interest-only mortgages, mortgages denominated in foreign currencies etc.) on the Czech mortgage...
Jako zástava poskytnutých hypotečních úvěrů (a úvěrů ze stavebního spoření nad určitou výši jisti... more Jako zástava poskytnutých hypotečních úvěrů (a úvěrů ze stavebního spoření nad určitou výši jistiny) slouží nemovitosti (byty, rodinné domy a pozemky), které jsou nejčastěji také předmětem transakce. Odhadní ceny těchto nemovitostí jsou stanoveny odhadci banky (nebo externími odhadci) a slouží jako podklad pro rozhodnutí o poskytnutí úvěru a jeho výše (výše úvěru musí být v přiměřené relaci k odhadní ceně nemovitosti měřené ukazatelem loan-to-value ratio, LTV), o výši úrokové sazby a současně pro stanovení výše rezerv pro případ, že by došlo k nesplácení úvěru a nucenému prodeji zástavy. Z uvedeného je zřejmé, že správné stanovení odhadní ceny ovlivňuje dostupnost úvěru určeného na pořízení bydlení (zda se banka rozhodne úvěr vůbec poskytnout) a následně i jeho cenu (vyšší LTV znamená zpravidla i vyšší úrokovou sazbu). Správné stanovení odhadní ceny přímo ovlivňuje finanční dostupnost vlastnického bydlení pro ty žadatele (domácnosti), které pro jeho pořízení musí využít cizí zdroje (úvěry) a nemohou si dovolit jej financovat pouze z vlastních zdrojů. Současně tak má vliv i na samotné rozhodování domácností o (ne)pořízení vlastnického bydlení a načasování takového rozhodnutí. Stanovení odhadní ceny ovlivňuje i výši prostředků, které banky musí držet jako rezervu pro případ realizace zástav z důvodu nesplácení úvěrů dlužníky, tj. má vliv i na výši nákladů bank a stabilitu finančního sektoru. Výše odhadní ceny a ceny úvěru na bydlení (úroku) ovlivňuje prostřednictvím důchodového efektu výši spotřebních výdajů domácností na ostatní položky spotřebního koše, přičemž tento vliv je s ohledem na vysoký podíl výdajů na bydlení ve spotřebním koši českých domácností relativně významný. Stejně tak se výše výdajů na bydlení odráží i ve výši úspor domácností. Odhadní ceny představují informaci pro subjekty trhu o tom, jaké ceny jsou "akceptovány" finančním sektorem, tj. mohou nepřímo ovlivnit i výši transakčních cen. Ze všech výše uvedených důvodů je proto správné stanovení odhadních cen nemovitostí a sledování jejich vývoje v čase důležité. V říjnu 2018 došlo ke zpřísnění požadavků bank na hodnoty LTV, DTI (debt-to-income, tj. poměru výše dluhu k čistým ročním příjmům domácnosti žadatele) a DSTI (debt-service-toincome, tj. poměru výše splátky úvěru k čistému měsíčnímu příjmu domácnosti žadatele). Tato zpřísňující kritéria byla doporučena ze strany regulátora (České národní banky, ČNB) v rámci makroobezřetnostní politiky snažící se snížit potenciální systémová rizika ve finančním sektoru. Důsledkem této politiky mohl být neformální tlak na "umělý" růst odhadních cen Tento článek byl zpracován jako jeden z výstupů projektu "Zvýšení transparentnosti hypotečního trhu v ČR rozšířením datové základny pro sledování a odhad cen nemovitostí" podpořeného Technologickou agenturou ČR (TA ČR) pod číslem TL03000212.
The housing affordability crisis is one of the most pressing issues in urban centres around the g... more The housing affordability crisis is one of the most pressing issues in urban centres around the globe, affecting especially young adults. Some theorists have in response begun calling for the provision of more public housing or less housing financialisation (free market). The goal of our article is to demonstrate the housing attitudes of Czech millennials towards state interventions that are designed to address the decline in housing affordability, using a quantitative attitude survey and a series of qualitative interviews. The results of our study reveal that young Czechs are sceptical about increased public housing provision as a solution, and on the whole their views align more with the neoliberal ideas, the very ideas that are criticised by critical theorists. We show that there are contextual reasons that explain why young Czechs are not calling for radical policy change -reasons such as familialism, which facilitates the intergenerational transmission of norms, habitus, and resources within families; the legacy of socialism and society transformation; a belief that more redistribution of resources could be unfair; and stronger support for competition, individualism and right-wing politics. There is also, however, some inconsistency and uncertainty in their attitudes, especially between their general worldview and their suggestions for concrete action. This study contributes to the research in the field of youth studies that looks at young people's strategies for dealing with the problem of decreasing housing affordability, and to the discussions surrounding diverse housing policy responses to a common global challenge.
The aim of the article is to map the trend of one of dimensions of social inequalities in the con... more The aim of the article is to map the trend of one of dimensions of social inequalities in the consumption of housing - the trend of regional inequalities in housing affordability in the Czech Republic in the period 2000 - 2006. Due to the lack of relevant data file(s) on household inco- mes and housing expenditures, the authors developed a new method of the housing affordability indicators calculation. The method makes it possible to describe the trend of regional inequalities in housing affordability of owner-occupied housing and rental housing form 2000 to 2006 using the official regional wage statistics (RSCP - Regional Wage Statistics) as well as price and rent statistics (using the price and rent monitoring system of the Institute of Regional Information, Ltd). From 2000 to 2003 the inequalities between regions grew in significance, but since 2003 these regional inequalities in housing affordability have decreased. The second part of the paper focuses on the reasons of the spec...
The impacts of economic crisis on the Czech housing market were, at least till now, relatively mo... more The impacts of economic crisis on the Czech housing market were, at least till now, relatively moderate. In comparison to other developed countries (e.g. Ireland, Spain, Greece, USA, Denmark, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia or Bulgaria) was the decrease in residential property prices only gradual and the default rate is lagging behind the average of the developed countries. The volatility in residential property prices could follow the accumulation of systemic risks of owner-occupied housing, especially the growing share of low-income households with mortgage debts among home-owners. The article therefore aims to answer following research questions. First, was there significant increase in the share of low-income households repaying their mortgages in the owner- occupied housing sector in the Czech Republic after 2005? Second, was there significant increase in ‘innovative’ mortgage products (e.g. interest-only mortgages, mortgages denominated in foreign currencies etc.) on the Czech mortga...
The policy paper contains the proposal for structural changes of several housing policy measures ... more The policy paper contains the proposal for structural changes of several housing policy measures in the Czech Republic. The goal of the reform is to increase policy effectiveness, efficiency, tenure neutrality and anticyclicity. The second section of paper describes the results of large-scale simulations of the reform and its impact on public expenditures and income distribution
In many advanced countries housing consumption plays a significant role in the social stratifi ca... more In many advanced countries housing consumption plays a significant role in the social stratifi cation of households. First, the article sets out to determine whether during the transformation period signifi cant differentiation of housing consumption occurred and social stratifi cation became linked to stratifi cation by housing consumption. In other words, whether alongside the 'standard' criteria (age, education, income, and other socio-economic variables) infl uencing the stratifi cation of Czech households it is also necessary to take into account the type and quality of housing. Second, in relation to these fi ndings on stratifi cation, Czech households are segmented into 12 segments. The article then makes some general prognoses for each household segment regarding the number of households in selected forms of housing and types of housing development for 2020. These prognoses showed that if 'optimistic' outlooks for economic development are met and Czech citizens' housing preferences remain constant, there could be a substantial increase compared to today in the share of Czech households living in family homes and even to a certain excess of supply of rental fl ats over demand.
The aim of the article is an analysis of changes affecting the financial affordability of rental ... more The aim of the article is an analysis of changes affecting the financial affordability of rental and owner-occupied housing over the course of the economic transformation in the Czech Republic. To evaluate housing affordability the authors used housing expenditures-to-income ratios and data files from the Czech Statistical Office. The objective of this article is also to draw attention to the need to modify standard indicators when measuring housing affordability in countries in transition. In this regard the authors particularly note the huge differences in affordability ratios between households living in the so-called 'privileged' and households living in the 'unprivileged' housing market sectors.
Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 2019
According to economic theory, an economically rational market agent searching for permanent housi... more According to economic theory, an economically rational market agent searching for permanent housing in a particular stage in his/her life cycle should base his/her tenure considerations also by comparing rent to the user costs of homeownership, and among flats with otherwise identical housing services and security will select the cheaper of two alternative tenures. Economic theory perceives rental and owner-occupied housing as 'communicating vessels'-a change in conditions in one necessarily entails changes in the other. This is called the 'substitution effect' and represents an important balancing mechanism in the housing market. Our hypothesis is that if the substitution between rental and owneroccupied housing in particular culture/society is weak, then the demand for owner-occupied housing becomes more income-elastic than vice versa. Consequently, in the case of a weak substitution effect, changes in house prices will closely mimic changes in household incomes, while in the case of a strong substitution effect this relationship will be much weaker. We confirmed our hypothesis by employing both a theoretical model and an empirical analysis of price data. If we assume poor responsiveness of housing supply, the main implication of our findings is that in societies with weak substitution effect between owning and renting we can expect higher house-price volatility and thus a higher chance of price bubbles appearing.
Homeownership is believed to cause higher unemployment. This is because homeowners face higher mo... more Homeownership is believed to cause higher unemployment. This is because homeowners face higher mobility costs that limit their job search to local labour markets. Empirical tests of this prediction have yielded mixed results so far, possibly due to the endogeneity of homeownership. This paper documents that the privatisation of public housing in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain resulted in a quasi-experimental assignment of homeownership to individual households. This facilitates a new test of the effects of homeownership on mobility and unemployment. We find only weak evidence that homeowners are less willing to move and no evidence of higher unemployment risks relative to renters.
On the background of current global mortgage crisis the article discusses the housing market theo... more On the background of current global mortgage crisis the article discusses the housing market theory and particularly the methods and indicators used for the evaluation of long-term sustainabilityof house price trends. The authors provide the time series of such indicators for selected OECD countries, critically examine the past research studies evaluating pre-crisis house price development and argue that house price falls present in many developed countries are more the causes than the consequences of mortgage crisis. The change in house price trends in 2007 in many developed countries could be thus interpreted as the result of the previous record houseprice growth, often labeled as a price bubble. In view of this hypothesis the authors try to assess the sustainability of house price development in the Czech Republic, using several indicators,error correction models and different data sources. The methods for construction of reliable house price indices are also discussed here. The ...
The aim of the paper is to discuss selected methodological problems of quantitative comparative h... more The aim of the paper is to discuss selected methodological problems of quantitative comparative housing research. The analysis is based on EU-SILC data and the concept of overcrowding is considered. We used two alternative definitions of overcrowding rate, both based on normative assumptions and each giving slightly different results. We tried to answer the question, which definition is better. The basic idea was that the closer the 'objective' rate of overcrowding is to its 'subjective' assessment, the better the selected method (definition) is. Moreover, it was shown that while in more advanced countries the share of households that consider dwelling space to be a problem is significantly higher than the share of households living in overcrowded dwellings based on 'objective' criteria, in post-socialist countries the opposite is true.
Housing-policy research in European Union countries distinguishes between two kinds of rent contr... more Housing-policy research in European Union countries distinguishes between two kinds of rent control: non-targeted "first-generation" rent control and targeted "second-generation" rent control, the later which better reflects housing market relations. The article demonstrates the drastic consequences of first-generation rent control in the Czech Republic, using criteria of social effectiveness and economic efficiency. The authors present the results of an econometric simulation model on the determination of equilibrium market rents after rent deregulation. Due to a sharp decrease in housing affordability in the Czech Republic, the authors simulate the application of two housing-policy instruments: social housing and housing allowance. A cost-benefit analysis shows that rent deregulation and the application of effective policy instruments would substantially increase the income of landlords, decrease the level of currently biased market rents, and maintain the rela...
The aim of the article is to map the trend of one of dimensions of social inequalities in the con... more The aim of the article is to map the trend of one of dimensions of social inequalities in the consumption of housing - the trend of regional inequalities in housing affordability in the Czech Republic in the period 2000 - 2006. Due to the lack of relevant data file(s) on household incomes and housing expenditures, the authors developed a new method of the housing affordability indicators calculation. The method makes it possible to describe the trend of regional inequalities in housing affordability of owner-occupied housing and rental housing form 2000 to 2006 using the official regional wage statistics (RSCP - Regional Wage Statistics) as well as price and rent statistics (using the price and rent monitoring system of the Institute of Regional Information, Ltd). From 2000 to 2003 the inequalities between regions grew in significance, but since 2003 these regional inequalities in housing affordability have decreased. The second part of the paper focuses on the reasons of the specif...
This article develops a conceptual framework derived from welfare regime and concomitant literatu... more This article develops a conceptual framework derived from welfare regime and concomitant literatures to interpret housing reform in post-socialist European countries. In it, settled power structures and collective ideologies are necessary prerequisites for the creation of distinctive housing welfare regimes with clear roles for the state, market and households. Although the defining feature of post-socialist housing has been mass-privatization to create superhomeownership societies, the emphatic retreat of the state that this represents has not been replaced by the creation of the institutions or cultures required to create fully financialized housing markets. There is, instead, a form of state legacy welfare in the form of debt free home-ownership, which creates a gap in housing welfare that has been partially filled by households in the form of intergenerational assistance (familiailism) and self-build housing. Both of these mark continuities with the previous regime. The latter is especially common in south-east Europe where its frequent illegality represents a form of anti-state housing. The lack of settled ideologies and power structures suggest that these housing welfare regimes by default will persist as part of a process that resembles a path dependent "transformation" rather than "transition."
The impacts of economic crisis on the Czech housing market were, at least till now, relatively mo... more The impacts of economic crisis on the Czech housing market were, at least till now, relatively moderate. In comparison to other developed countries (e.g. Ireland, Spain, Greece, USA, Denmark, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia or Bulgaria) was the decrease in residential property prices only gradual and the default rate is lagging behind the average of the developed countries. The volatility in residential property prices could follow the accumulation of systemic risks of owner-occupied housing, especially the growing share of low-income households with mortgage debts among home-owners. The article therefore aims to answer following research questions. First, was there significant increase in the share of low-income households repaying their mortgages in the owneroccupied housing sector in the Czech Republic after 2005? Second, was there significant increase in ‘innovative’ mortgage products (e.g. interest-only mortgages, mortgages denominated in foreign currencies etc.) on the Czech mortgage...
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Papers by Petr Sunega