Locked out in Europe : A Comparative Analysis of Evictions Due to Rent Arrears in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden

Although evictions are a significant cause of homelessness they have received relatively little interest from social scientists. International data are scarce and there are few descriptions of the processes leading to evictions. This paper attempts to shed some light on this under-researched issue. First, an attempt is made to develop a theoretical framework placing evictions in the intersection between civil and social citizenship, and the importance of distinguishing between the macro- and micro- levels in the analysis of evictions is underlined. Secondly, three specific countries are studied: Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The legal basis for evictions, eviction procedures, and the possibilities for avoiding homelessness arising from rent arrears are presented and compared. Preliminary data on the numbers of evictions are also given. Some striking differences in the process of dealing with evictions between the three countries are brought to light, and the overall lack of data on evictions is emphasized