ABSTRACT
A distinctive feature in the development of transition economies is the double influence of globalization and the formation of market-based relations in sectors of the economy that were traditionally managed by administrative and planning instruments of the state. However, the main trends in the housing sector in Western countries during the past two decades – reduction of the public rental sector in favour of the private sector, development of loan instruments for construction and purchase of housing and implementation of targeted assistance programmes to the poor – almost fully coincide with the tasks also faced by the East European countries during their transition to market economies.
