ABSTRACT
The development of housing under socialism involves issues which touch on the very core of the new society: the nature of the city and the country, and the relationship between them; the nature of the family, property relations, architecture and the creative arts; and the pattern of economic investment. In fact Engels’s policy for the immediate redistribution of luxury dwellings was ‘the cornerstone of Soviet housing policy’ during the post-revolutionary period of war communism, when there was little possibility of any more constructive activity. Industrialisation affected four aspects of housing: planning; the distribution of investment; ownership and management; access and security of tenure. The chapter examines three aspects of housing: demand, supply and finance. The finance of housing and associated services is a very complicated affair influenced broadly by several interlocking ‘markets’ for housing, and several interlocking ‘interest groups’ for local services.
