The Private Rental Sector in Western Europe

The chapter provides the broader context for analysing the private rental sector (PRS) in post-socialist countries from a Western European perspective, with an overview of the different meanings of PRS, and the legal-economic relationship of the actors in the context of national housing regimes. The chapter then describes the four dominant housing policy approaches of the last century that have impacted the changing position of the PRS. The key areas of housing policy interventions are presented that explain the development of the sector; then an overview of PRS development is provided in countries where either a large PRS has been preserved into the twenty-first century or where its market share has significantly increased recently. The final section presents insights on the sector’s expected future development.