ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impacts of globalization on the housing finance systems of the more advanced economies. The impact of housing finance instruments on whole housing systems is examined within their social and economic context. The framework adopted draws on some of the typologies of housing systems that were developed in the 1990s. These attempts move beyond descriptive tenure-based comparisons in order to capture the dynamics of housing systems. Two schemas are most notable. The first is the application of Esping-Andersen’s typology of welfare states to housing systems, and the second is Kemeny’s parallel ‘unitary’/’dualist’ dichotomy. 2 The countries that fit the social democratic and corporatist categories in the Esping-Andersen schema roughly parallel with Kemeny’s ‘unitary’ rental systems. In unitary systems the market and cost rental 3 sectors form part of the same market. Further, Esping-Andersen’s ‘liberal’ category parallels with Kemeny’s ‘dualist’ category, in which the cost rental sector is residualized and owner-occupation is the tenure of choice. Unitary/social democratic/corporatist systems are associated with countries in northwest Europe, such as Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. The dualist/liberal systems are associated with English-speaking countries, such as the US, Australia and the UK. It is more difficult to categorize Japan, and to a lesser extent France.
