Kritikus ponton? Önkormányzati lakásgazdálkodás a gazdasági világválság után
Critical Point? Housing Management of Local Governments after the Economic Crisis

Summary/Abstract: The Hungarian public housing sector is experiencing continuous disinvestment (first by the central then by localgovernments) since the beginning of the 1980s. State withdrawal from the public housing sector was the mostradical after the regime change of 1989. During this period the residualization of the municipal housing stock– at that time intended to become social housing in the sense of providing subsidized housing to the neediestpopulations – accelerated. The state of the municipal housing stock then became critical following the economiccrisis of 2008. On the one hand, the economic situation of the tenants in the municipal housing stock becamemore and more difficult, which led to an increase of arrears in rent or utility charges. On the other hand, thehousing stock itself – due to chronic lack of investment – is by now in critical state. In the context of selectivedecentralization (meaning that certain, usually costly, competencies are delegated to the municipal level withoutadequate resources) this means that the municipal housing stock primarily represents a burden for the ownermunicipalities – a burden from which they have incentive to free themselves. This leads, on the one hand, to thefurther dismantlement of the municipal housing stock and on the other, to local policies aiming to relegate tenantsliving in poverty. In the article we analyze these processes based on data provided by the Central Statistical Officerelating to the period between 2007 and 2013.

• Details
• Contents