Available online: https://pub.norden.org/nord2021-022/ This issue of Nordic Economic Policy Review is devoted to Nordic housing markets and housing policies. Nordic housing markets face more or less the same problems and challenges, but the way policies and regulations deal with them differs in many respects. A comparison of policies, regulations and results across countries yields valuable lessons for policymakers. The work has been led and edited by Professor emeritus Harry Flam and Professor emeritus Peter Englund.

Abstract: Nordic countries are often thought to have broadly similar housing policies, because they have traditionally had similar policies in areas like education, health care and social services based on shared fundamental values. In housing, however, these countries have distinctive national differences in areas like housing finance, support policy, tenure legislation and rent policy. This book takes an indepht look at housing and housing policies in the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The chapters describe, analyse and compare the following areas, in a thematic way: Housing markets, housing production and housing standard The roles of housing policy actors national government, municipalities, private business, households and nonprofit actors Housing tenures and rent legislation Housing consumption, housing expenditure and user costs Housing support policy, housing finance and housing taxation Physical planning and urban policy Sustainable development of cities and housing areas. The differences between the housing policies of the Nordic countries mean that, taken together, these countries have experience of a wide range of approaches, policies and instruments. This combined experience can be used in assessing the value of particular policies and instruments in particular contexts and assessing how they can be made to work together as effectively as possible

Good mix of analytical chapters and descriptive case studies Authors are very well known in the field

Urban sustainability and governance in relation to housing trends and policies is the focus of this book written by leading Nordic and Baltic housing researchers. The empirical examples are from the Baltic transition economies and the Nordic welfare states. For a number of reasons it is, however, of interest for outside this region. Firstly, the global challenges of sustainable development and planning, presented in the theoretical section, are clarified and given a deeper practical meaning through the empirical chapters. The contrasts between the post-solicalist Baltic states and the social-democrat Nordic countries are in this context of special value. Secondly, the general challenges facing the post-socialist states are demonstrated in the housing development and policies evolving since 1991, as these integrate both social, economic and environmental issues. Thirdly, the book illustrates how path dependencies and former legacies influence present developments, which, contrary to common beliefs, differ between the 5 Nordic and the 3 Baltic states. It is crucial reading for students and actors in planning and housing in the Baltic and Nordic states. The Nordic countries developed its post- WWII housing and welfare policies in the framework of a social-democrat egalitarian spirit resulting in co-ops dominating much of the scene in Norway, municipal housing companies in Sweden, non-profit local housing associations in Denmark and housing with special state loans in Finland. In the same period Soviet state-socialist intentions formed the basis of large-scale uniform housing estates providing standard housing for the masses in the Baltic states. Privatisation in the east and increasing market liberalisation in the west have created new social cleavages on the housing scene. There are striking policy differences between the Nordic and Baltic states, but also similarities, both before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, and in recent trends and challenges. The book provides a crucial common ground for reciporcal learning in the field of housing and planning.

Survey of housing in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - covers geographical aspects, government policy, regional planning, urban planning, urbanization, financial aspects and technical aspects, the construction industry, housing standards, demand, legal aspects, etc. Statistical tables.