Formulating proper responses to housing problems requires looking at the processes of housing consumption and production in a systemic way. From this perspective, the questions the thesis asks are (a) how the housing system and the wider economy and society interact, (b) how the housing system changes and evolves over time, and (c) how economic, political and social factors can be brought together in an explanatory framework. Moreover, answers to these questions must have general applicability, and not be appropriate for one or two similar countries only. Therefore, in addition to a theoretical approach to these issues, the thesis cites international evidence, and focusses on a comparison between Britain and Greece.