Research Seminar – The Private Rented Sector in CEE Countries with a Focus on the Current Situation of the Sector Slovenia

Research Seminar

Topic:
The Private Rented Sector in Central Eastern European Countries with a Focus on the Current Situation of the Sector in Slovenia

Speaker:
Dr. Richard Sendi
Head of Housing Studies
Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Schedule:
Wednesday, 19 October 2016 (13:00 – 14:00)
Room 803, Knowles Building
The University of Hong Kong

Abstract:
The first decade at the end of the Second World War was characterised in Central and Eastern European (CEE) by the expropriation and administrative allocation of housing. The communist regime, which had assumed power after the war, embarked on an extensive expropriation exercise during which almost all private property was confiscated and became state owned, including housing. This action formally brought an end to private rented housing and effectively terminated private renting as an officially recognised segment of the housing market. The communist housing policy was the based on the conviction that private landlords should not be allowed to make a profit from letting dwellings. The state was committed to providing housing for all citizens.

However, notwithstanding the communist ideological dedication to provide housing for all, none of the CEE countries was able to achieve this goal. Some forms of private ownership were, nonetheless, allowed to exist, especially the construction of single-family houses by those who were not able to solve their housing needs within the state provision schemes. With the adoption of a market economy system in CEE countries in the early 1990s, there were high expectations for the revival and establishment of a viable private rented sector (PRS). These expectations were backed up by the extensive privatisation of the then state-owned housing stock and the restitution of previously nationalised property to its rightful owners. However, the PRS has not yet assumed any significant role in any of the CEE countries, to date. The example of Slovenia, where we conducted an investigation into the current manner of operation of the PRS (supply side) may serve as a typical illustration of the situation that prevails in the majority of CEE countries.

About the Speaker:
Richard Sendi obtained a PhD in Urban Design at the University of Edinburgh in 1987. He has been working as a senior researcher at the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia since 1991. His main fields of specialisation include: housing systems; housing policy; operation of the housing market; housing finance and construction; housing tenure and architectural and urban design aspects of residential neighbourhoods. He has led numerous domestic research projects and coordinated the Slovenian team of researchers for three international research projects funded by the European Commission. He is author and editor of several domestic publications and has published articles in prominent peer-reviewed international journals and contributed chapters to edited volumes published abroad.

Besides academic work, he also performs various functions including, among others: Head of Housing Studies at the Institute; President of the Scientific Council of the Institute; Member of the Coordination Committee of the European Network for Housing Research; Co-coordinator of the Working Group East European Housing and Urban Policy of the ENHR; Vice-Chair of the ECO-SOC Panel of the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska Curie-Actions. He has recently been nominated as a candidate for the Scientific Advisory Board of the Joint Planning Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe.

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