Property Restitution and Private Rental Housing in Transition: The Case of the Czech Republic

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to explain one phenomenon evident in the transformation of post-socialist states that has received insufficient scholarly attention to date: the restitution of the housing stock in terms of its causes and consequences. In this paper, the theory of social constructivism, including Kemeny's advanced application of this theory to the field of housing studies, is used to (a) explain the causes for a particular type of property restitution in the Czech Republic and (b) outline its consequences on the role and long-term social meaning of private rental housing. This research explains how restitution was viewed by the main participants in this discourse, and how the whole process was legitimised and socially constructed in the Czech Republic. The evidence presented stems from a multi-method analysis of discourse that integrates the results of in-depth interviews, content analysis of the press, and an analysis of data from attitude surveys. The paper shows how the initial state of consensus surrounding the image of restitution quickly dissolved. The emergence of divisions combined with the inadequate response of the state generated a biased image of private rental housing among Czech citizens—a pattern that persists to the present.

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