ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines housing problems, policies and products in selected European countries in the post-war era. Annual housing production figures attained new peaks, averaging eight dwellings per 1000 inhabitants in Europe in 1970. The private sector accounted for the bulk of new construction in the years, although public managed bodies constructed over a third of the new stock in Belgium, Holland and the United Kingdom. Later, subsidies to house constructors were introduced to stimulate production, and the promotion of public and nonprofit housing agencies was encouraged in some countries. The drying-up of demand, the increase in the material costs of production and higher interest rates contributed to significant drops in annual house construction in Western European nations in the seventies, with its consequent implications for employment and overall housing provision.
