ABSTRACT
The process of restructuring perestroika currently under way in the USSR still does not orientate the concept of housing reform towards radically changing the system of housing relations. In many respects this is because at a certain stage in history the housing problem was transformed from an economic issue into an ideological one: it has passed from the hectic debates of the 1920s on the various methods of building and allocating housing and on the principles governing rent calculations, to making categorical statements to the effect that free provision of accommodation is evidence of one of the advantages of a socialist society. Since the possibility of arguing against this axiom was out of the question, the existing model of housing relations has not been subjected to a proper analysis. Thus social scientists and housing specialists find themselves at a critical juncture. They need to elaborate a theory which is capable of both explaining all the difficulties currently taking place in the housing sphere and also offering a basis for housing reform.
