Inequality
Guthrie Scrimgeour – You Aren’t Allowed in These Billionaire Towns
‘Welcome to the fully privatised city, where the ultrarich can do as they please — no whining from the rabble permitted.’ In Jacobin. Read the article HERE.
Housing
Climate Crisis
Rubén Martínez – How Housing Speculation Created Environmental Crisis in Spain
‘The floods that hit Spain last year were more than just a natural disaster. They were exacerbated by housing developers who built homes in the most flood-prone areas.’ In Jacobin. Read the article HERE.
Inequality
Paul Hickman, Kesia Reeve – ‘We’d just switch everything off’: six in ten social housing tenants go without essentials to pay rent
A sad indictment of 21st century England. Paul Hickman is Professor of Housing and Social Policy at Sheffield Hallam University. Kesia Reeve is Principal Research Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University. Cross-posted from The Conversation The social […]
Deregulation
Richard Matoušek – In Lisbon, Residents Seek a Vote on Banning Airbnb
‘In Lisbon, soaring tourism has turned tens of thousands of apartments into Airbnbs, pushing out ordinary renters. A referendum on banning short-term rentals in residential buildings could change that.’ In Jacobin. Read the article HERE.
Finance
Euronews: Low-income Europeans face hard times in housing cost struggle
“ECB research shows that more than one-fourth of low-income households expect late payments on their mortgages in the coming months.” In EuroNews. Read the article HERE.
Economics
Grace Blakeley: Property Developer Patriotism
“The irony of Keir Starmer’s plan for a ‘patriotic economy’ is that it relies on corporate developers to enrich shareholders, many of which don’t pay their taxes in Britain.” In Tribune. Read the article HERE.
Climate Crisis
Julieta Perucca – Green housing threatens affordability. But it doesn’t have to.
Attempt to reduce carbon emissions from housing risk running into multiple ‘Yellow Vest’ moments unless housing is made a social good, not a for-profit asset. Julieta Perucca is an experienced human rights advocate, previously working […]
Finance
Martha Dillon: The risks and rewards of AI in the housing system
AI is changing the way we manage homes and buildings. While AI could have positive effects on housing, it could also speed up its financialisation. Martha Dillon is Housing Policy Lead at Positive Money. Her […]
Economics
Michael Marshall: The dynamics of conflict and distance in financialised affordable housing
Speculation in low-income housing by an opaque investment community has produced new housing conflicts, but also new tactics among activists. Michael Marshall is a Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Urban Studies & Planning at […]
Deregulation
Ben Wray: In San Sebastian, the unpropertied have nothing to lose but their rip-off tenancies
The Basque coastal hotspot San Sebastian is the most expensive city in Spain; a virtual feeding frenzy for rentier capitalism that is driving away its young people. The Basque Government, however, remains unmoved Ben Wray […]