Dispersed privatization of council housing: Some structural effects in the municipal housing stock in Olsztyn, Poland

Abstract

Council (public) housing privatization, as the basic instrument for transforming housing systems, has significantly affected the tenure structure and created millions of new owners across Europe. In Poland, the concept of the dispersed privatization was adopted and implemented in the long term primarily through preferential sales of council dwellings from the municipal housing stock to sitting tenants. The aim of the study was to analyze the effects of the dispersed privatization of municipal dwellings in the spatial and ownership structure of the municipal housing stock of the city of Olsztyn in Poland. The results showed that poorly controlled processes of the dispersed privatization of municipal housing caused unfavorable structural effects in the surveyed housing stock. The stock has shrunk significantly, losing buildings in better locations and conditions and the undesired fragmentation of municipal ownership and its mixing with private ownership has increased. The results and proposals are important to other cities and countries facing the challenge of slow privatization of public housing.