The housing crisis is European: across the EU, reports point to problems of housing unaffordability/housing inadequacy. From Ireland to Hungary, countries with very different housing systems experience similar issues. While housing research has, in recent years, focussed more on urban contexts and cities, this study poses a need for contextualising such approaches.

The presentation will position the urban debates in Central, Eastern and Southeastern European cities and their national housing systems and a wider European context and compare the housing systems in CEE/SEE countries to other European housing systems. The question of housing systems is approached through the lens of the Political Economy of Housing, focussing on the (differing) ways housing is commodified.

The author will present selected findings of a larger study of housing system trajectories of EU member states, presenting preliminary results of a macrolevel analysis of those housing systems and their trajectories. The study utilizes a modified Varieties of residential Capitalism approach and focusses on housing finance regulation in fiscal, financial and monetary policy.

Utilizing public data on the national level covering the last twenty years, the presentation will provide an analysis of the trajectories beyond grouping them all together as one postsocialist or familial cluster. Moving beyond a singular causality in understanding and towards a more differentiated approach to comparing the cases also opens the analysis for differences in the trajectories after the collapse of socialist rule. There are relevant differences between Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries’ housing systems that will be compared to patterns across Europe.

These differences stem from differing policies, especially those shaping housing finance. The presentation will cover central policies shaping the housing systems in fiscal, financial or monetary regulation. This offers an understanding of the production of different housing systems and contextualises studies more focussed on local and urban contexts. Thus, the presented research enables a deepened comparison of different case studies across Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries.

At some point in comparative housing studies, findings need to be inbedded in concepts and typologies of their respective economies and societies. Formally, these can be grouped into theories of convergence and theories of divergence – with much overlap when looking into details. Both originated in the advanced countries of the European core. Later both housing and welfare typologies were extended to the European (semi-) peripheries, but research is still scarce and fragmented. Here, large (capital) cities and their housing markets are even more distinct from their countries than in the European core. Both extensions, to the periphery and to the urban, offer substantial challenges to established fusions of housing regimes, welfare regimes and varieties of capitalism.

Based on research experience with a number of East and South East European cities, traditional framings of comparative housing research will be examined. Until the 1970s, developmental concepts prevailed, fully concentrating on European core countries on their way to comprehensive housing policies (DONNISON). In the 1980s, the re-commodification of housing (HARLOE) was in focus - an update and extension of the earlier linear developmental view. Only in the 1990s, ESPING-ANDERSEN sparked off interest in a wider framework for his welfare regimes, soon to be adapted for housing by KEMENY. In their basic ideas, these concepts try to locate groupings of institutions within a „welfare triangle“ between market, state and families – expanding the earlier market and state dichotomies.

Still, regime groupings, in welfare and housing, were mainly defined for European core countries. Only from the 2000s, other configurations were claimed for the European peripheries, Southern Europe (ALLEN) and Eastern, post-communist Europe (STEPHENS et al.). In these extensions, many organizers of welfare and housing congregate in the family/informal economy corner of the welfare triangle. This is where recent changes are taking place: from informal and small-scale housing provision towards more professionalized, profit-led housing markets, still with a strong element of familialist support, counter-balancing the lack of housing subsidies for the many with family wealth. My presentation will draw together examples for such developments in the ownership cities of the Southern and Eastern periphery of Europe – working towards an alternative framework for comparative housing research.

The ongoing migration crises, particularly the war in Ukraine and increasing political and economic instability in Russia, have prompted significant waves of people seeking refuge in various European cities. Among these destinations, Belgrade has emerged as a key location for many migrants. As a result, the local housing market has been significantly impacted, leading to shifts in rental prices, property values, and residential behaviour.

The growing influx of migrants has intensified population pressure on Belgrade’s housing market, with central neighbourhoods—traditionally the most sought-after areas—seeing a surge in demand. In particular, Russian migrants, facing limited migration options, have played a central role in driving this increase. It has been most evident in rental prices, which have nearly doubled since the migration influx began. While house prices have also risen, they have not escalated at the same rate as rents.

The rapid changes in housing market have had a profound impact on the local population, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who find it increasingly difficult to afford housing in the face of rising rents and property prices. This shift exposes the vulnerability of Belgrade’s post-socialist, deregulated housing system, which struggles to keep up with rapid demographic and economic changes.

This research utilizes quantitative and qualitative methods to explore these issues. Beside in-depth semi-structured interviews which were conducted with experts from major real estate agencies in Belgrade, additional interviews and surveys were conducted with migrants who have settled in Belgrade in order to explore their residential preferences.

The complex spatial-demographic and socio-economic transformations during Serbia's post-socialist transition have profoundly impacted demographic trends in urban settlements, resulting in widespread urban shrinkage. At the beginning of the 21st century, Serbia's urban population went from growing to shrinking, with 86.2% of urban settlements affected by this process. Paradoxically, despite this significant population shrinkage, urban housing stock has continued to grow. Simultaneously the number of urban dwellings grew at an average annual rate of 1.22% per 100 inhabitants between 2011 and 2022, thus exceeding the rate of population change. These trends highlight increasing spatial-demographic imbalances, particularly evident in shrinking cities. This paper examines the relationship between demographic trends and urban housing demand across 167 urban settlements in Serbia. The aim of the study is to investigate the dynamics of spatial-demographic imbalances, emphasizing the interplay between urban population decline and the sustained growth in housing construction during the 21st century.