Housing Market and Housing Policy in Norway – an International Comparison

In this project the researchers compare central features of the Norwegian housing market and housing policy with those of Sweden, Denmark, Austria, UK, the Netherlands and Germany.

In this project, funded by the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, we compare central features of the Norwegian housing market and housing policy with those of six other countries: Sweden, Denmark, Austria, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany, with particular emphasis on the first three.

Our report will be part of the Ministry’s work on the upcoming White paper on Housing policy for disadvantaged households.

We investigate which approaches and traditions the different countries have with respect to the public sector role in the housing market, in particular the demarcation between the public and the private sector, and the emphasis places on individual responsibility. Which policies are employed to solve challenges for disadvantaged households, and how are these groups defined?

In particular, we focus on the extent to which the different countries foster low-income homeownership, and how these policies are designed.

Moreover, we compare and contrast statistics on housing standards and housing finance for different groups in the seven countries, as well as central features of the housing market at large, including taxation, subsidization and different policies aimed at disadvantaged households.