The Dynamics of the Housing Construction in the Republics of the USSR in the 1920s-1980s

Abstract

Despite 30 years of market reforms, the main difference between the housing sector in Russia and other post-socialist countries and that of the advanced Western nations lies in housing tenure distribution. In the former states, outright homeowners with property mainly built in the planned economy dominate the market. At the same time, in the latter countries, the majority of households pay rent or take out a mortgage (these types of households account for three-quarters of households in the USA and on average almost two-thirds of households in Western and Northern European nations). This article examines the evolution of main indicators of housing construction in the USSR as well as in the 15 Union republics from 1918 to 1990. The research rests upon a database composed by the author from more than 120 official statistical sources at the national and Republics' level. This work covers not only state housing construction but also individual housing construction as well as housing construction cooperatives in the USSR republics, which the post-Soviet and foreign scholarly literature have often neglected. We identify the main stages of housing construction in the USSR and analyze the data on housing completions in urban and rural areas, the evolution of the housing stock, flats and houses built, and the statistics on the people in the Union Republics who improved their living conditions. The time series collected and per capita indicators across the 15 republics of the USSR calculated by the author, reveal quite synchronized development of their housing sectors. Nevertheless, the three Baltic republics were leaders in many per capita indicators, whereas the RSFSR, the Kazakh, Byelorussian and Armenian SSR stood out in terms of housing completions and share of people who improved their living conditions. At the same time, the Georgian, Ukrainian and Moldavian SSR excelled in floor area per person.