ABSTRACT
The third chapter accounts for the design of the study and explains how the empirical material was collected and how it was examined and analysed. A significant proportion of the chapter is committed to explaining the specific Swedish housing market model and the Swedish housing policy as it has evolved over time. Rather than relying on a so-called social housing model, Sweden (and neighbouring Denmark) applies a universal model wherein public housing companies (PHCs, corporations fully owned by the city or municipality) complement private housing companies. To avoid the stigma of living in social housing (in the UK, so-called council homes), PHCs provide rental units in both central and peripheral locations in the city or municipality but do so on the basis of general contracting practices. As households are legally entitled to a home, PHCs tend to house low-net-worth households, but private housing companies may also act in this role. Furthermore, to preserve sound market competition, PHCs are expected to act as market makers by, e.g., building new affordable housing in disadvantaged suburban city districts, which makes it more lucrative for private housing companies to invest in them. The last sections of the chapter provide detailed information regarding how the empirical material reported in Part 2 of the volume was collected, and how it was coded on the basis of standardized methods.
