How Housing Systems are Changing and Why: A Critique of Kemeny’s Theory of Housing Regimes; Mark Stephens: A Commentary

ABSTRACT This paper reflects on Mark Stephens commentary on Kemeny’s theory of housing systems, both as a starting point for other researchers’ contributions to understanding housing and welfare systems and as an important update on the current economic and policy environment. This note argues that, as a typology, Kemeny’s approach provided a valuable description of the period in which he worked and one that can be used to compare systems in the much changed housing environment of the twenty first century. It also reviews the three country case studies that Stephens uses to illustrate both his critique of the Kemeny model and his own extension to understanding housing systems which lays greater stress on the political and economic environment in which housing polices are being developed. Of particular relevance is the increasing importance of income related housing assistance in a world where inequalities are increasing.