The main aims of this book have been to provide contemporary accounts of renewal policy and practice in nine European countries; to see how individual countries’ approaches developed over time; and to bring together information and ideas on how the renewal of existing housing, including its physical, social, economic, community and cultural aspects, can achieve more prominence in the policy agenda in Europe.

Housing renewal is one of three main elements in housing production; and together with new building and demolition, it forms an essential part of a balanced housing policy. The previous chapter contained the reminder that new building, although often seen as the ‘exciting’ part of housing policy, contributes no more than 1 per cent, if that, to the annual increase in the housing stock; and that most of the housing where today's population will live in the future already exists. It follows that the existing stock is a vital resource which for personal, social and economic reasons cannot be allowed to fall into neglect; and which, in most cases, is fully capable of regular renewal to maintain and extend its useful life. Attitudes towards housing as ‘private’ property, especially following the large-scale privatisations of recent years, do not diminish the responsibility of national and local governments for having policies that address the needs and problems of the existing housing stock, even at times when public sector resources are limited by an adverse economic situation. Housing renewal remains a serious challenge in Europe and to raise its profile as a focus for present-day and future policy has been an important objective of this book.

This chapter looks at the way ‘housing renewal’ is understood in the countries under study; and at the origins and development of renewal policies. It shows that, in contrast to the findings of previous studies in the 1990s, there is much greater agreement now on the purposes of housing and urban renewal, and on the approaches to it that are likely to achieve successful results. These experiences are brought together as an assessment of what has been achieved through renewal and the lessons learnt. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the future for housing renewal and some of the policy imperatives that will guide the next steps to be taken.