Policy and practice

Abstract

The reforms carried out in the housing sector after the introduction of the political changes and adoption of a market economy in Slovenia in 1991 included, among other things, the privatisation of the previous public housing stock and the de- regulation of state housing provision and finance. These changes have, however, not been accompanied by the formulation of an appropriate policy to enable the private rented sector to play a positive role m the deregulation process. Despite a lack of research on the topic, there is, however, ample evidence that the private rented market is indeed operating and is quite vibrant. The paper starts with a brief description of present housing tenures. It is argued that even current government housing policy continues to ignore completely the private rented sector. In continuation we discuss the nature and operation of the present pri- vate rented sector. Proposals are put forward for appropriate policies which need to be introduced in order to facilitate the operation of a commercially viable private rented sector.