Housing Financialization in European Cities: Case Studies of Brussels and Warsaw

The project aims to analyze the growing role of financial markets and practices in shaping the local housing environment. This process, called financialization, has been a subject of academic research after the 2008 global housing crisis, which affected many European households. Despite the regulatory measures taken to mitigate it, financialization continues to expand to new regions and new types of tenure.Global financial actors influence the prices of housing units, which rise faster than incomes and make households increasingly dependent on mortgage loans. But recently they also entered the rental market as landlords, acquiring hundreds of units in large cities, and often benefiting from tax exemptions and a friendly legal environment. The negative effects of financialization and its role in reducing housing affordability have been pointed out by both the academic community and the reports of the European Commission and the United Nations.In the project, we will analyze the ongoing financialization in two capital cities: Brussels and Warsaw. Our first goal is to identify the scope and effects of housing financialization in the cities, and the main actors involved in this process. In addition, we will analyze the policy and civil society responses, including local regulatory measures taken to increase housing affordability, and existing and proposed alternatives to financialized housing models. To reach these objectives, we will use the methods of statistical and spatial analysis, review national and local regulation, and conduct interviews with the representatives of business, local government and civil society.The project will provide an insight into the financialization process in two European cities and identify both common patterns and local diversity. It is designed to serve as a pilot study for a larger international project, either within the Transformations or Democracy themes of the EU’s Horizon program or within MSCA Doctoral Networks.

Keywords:housing, financialization, urban studies

Disciplines:Urban and housing policy, Housing markets, development, management, Economic geography, Urban and regional geography