De-commodification and Welfare: Evaluating Housing Systems

Abstract

This article adopts an operational definition of de-commodification that emphasises its significance for the welfare of individuals. It explores what the definition indicates about different forms of home ownership and renting found in industrialised countries. The evaluations are brought together to derive quantitative estimates of the degree of de-commodification found in the housing systems of Britain, Sweden and Germany. Deriving the degrees of de-commodification of particular forms of housing and of entire national housing systems is a complex process. They cannot be read-off from knowledge of, say, tenure, and conclusions may differ from those generally assumed.