GLOBAL ECONOMIC-CHANGE, LABOR-MARKET ADJUSTMENT AND THE CHALLENGES FOR EUROPEAN HOUSING POLICIES

This paper examines the 'global competition' aspects of housing polici es and the implications of an emerging 'flexible' economic order for h ousing markets in advanced economies, An overview is given of movement s in international patterns of growth and trade, including a review of the effects on labour and housing markets of increased competition fr om less developed, and newly industrialised, countries, UK labour mark et experience is examined, along with the responses of, and implicatio ns for, housing systems and policies, Emphasis is placed on the need t o understand the connections between global economic change and region al/local housing systems when designing housing policy, The paper unde rlines the importance of integrating housing strategies with national competition policy.