Different patterns of home ownership in Europe (draft version)

Workshop 3. Session A. Abstract. Debate on the expansion of home ownership within the European Union tends to underestimate the differences both in the historical trajectories leading to such development and in the resulting social and economic outcomes. Discussion on the pros and cons of home ownership is therefore founded on a rather undifferentiated \u96 and so potentially misleading \u96 concept of this tenure. On the contrary, convergence toward the expansion of home ownership within the EU has come with divergence in the way housing-related markets, the state and family networks interplay in supporting the development of this tenure \u96 its shape and timing \u96 in the different countries. Accounting for such \u93different patterns\u94 of home ownership may contribute to the debate about the future of this tenure in Europe, the role it plays in national housing systems and its economic and social implications. The multiplicity of the experience of home ownership and divergence in the national trajectories that have led to the expansion of this tenure are discussed in the paper. A tentative typology of home ownership models is presented. A preliminary comparative analysis of different patterns of home ownership in the EU is discussed, mostly focusing on Southern Europe and on Italy, in particular