Housing privatisation in the transformation of the housing system - the case of Tartu, Estonia

The article deals with the process of housing privatisation during the 1990s in Estonia and its impacts on social inequalities. The transformation of the social system has resulted in a changed pattern of housing occupancy and new bases for social inequalities. The major causes of change are related to the privatisation process. Briefly, it will be argued that in Estonia the opportunities of households to privatise were not related to their socio-economic status. Rather, their gains were related to their housing situation at the beginning of the privatisation process. As an impact of the privatisation, the gap between the rental and ownership sectors, as well as the social segmentation across different housing submarkets based on form of occupancy, are increasing.