ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the processes of block reconstruction organised by flat-owners' associations in Estonia, within the context of respective policy initiatives, and on the basis of a recent research project initiated on a national level to explore the technical quality and performance of different types of urban residential blocks across the country. Mostly as a persisting legacy of socialist housing policy, the current state of large-scale housing areas and blocks in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries concerns a wide spectrum of social strata, though the spatial segregation is slowly progressing. The share of privately owned dwellings is exceptionally high even in the context of post-socialist countries. In Estonian housing policy, the responsibility of the state and local authorities has been limited to creating necessary institutional preconditions – legislation and financial instruments – for households to initiate and complete reconstruction of their block.
