ABSTRACT
There are two possible explanations for the convergence of experience and policy direction in the five countries. Firstly, state-sponsored housing is indispensable to modern urban society, just as government itself is, because of the growing economic complexities, greater population movements, and greater instability. European governments, unlike the USA, have not stood back from these problems. Even in the United States, with its emphasis on market sovereignty, there have been virtually continuous government programmes to provide or support low-cost housing of one kind or another. Private investors cannot gain from housing families dependent on state benefits unless the state itself pays the return to the investors. Therefore, the state cannot escape responsibility very easily.
