Housing cooperatives and the contradictions of Finnish land and housing policies
(2023) In International Journal of Housing Policy- Abstract
- This article explores some of the key institutional challenges hindering the development of a new ‘social’ housing cooperative model in Finland. In response to rising housing unaffordability and insecurity in the private housing sector, and a retrenching social housing sector, Finland is experiencing a resurgence of practical and political interest in housing cooperatives. Based on a document study and interviews with key stakeholders, this paper investigates three Finnish housing cooperatives, all of which are part of a broader state-subsidised pilot study. Despite different operational dynamics across projects, in this paper we identify three overarching ambiguities in Finnish land and housing policy which are hindering their... (More)
- This article explores some of the key institutional challenges hindering the development of a new ‘social’ housing cooperative model in Finland. In response to rising housing unaffordability and insecurity in the private housing sector, and a retrenching social housing sector, Finland is experiencing a resurgence of practical and political interest in housing cooperatives. Based on a document study and interviews with key stakeholders, this paper investigates three Finnish housing cooperatives, all of which are part of a broader state-subsidised pilot study. Despite different operational dynamics across projects, in this paper we identify three overarching ambiguities in Finnish land and housing policy which are hindering their development. Firstly, despite support from public authorities, cooperatives are difficult to categorise within existing social housing frameworks. Secondly, due to temporally-restricted regulatory instruments, authorities are also sceptical of their long-term affordability. Tying these together, we suggest, is also a further third factor. Namely that, due to its entrepreneurial real estate policy, the City of Helsinki refuses to lease land under market rent to housing cooperatives. Contributing to international scholarship on the public-cooperative nexus, this article investigates the impacts these institutional ambiguities and contradictions can have on contemporary housing cooperative developments. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4ebcd288-55d8-4b97-8ee4-2ab77e192489
- author
- Charlesworth, Daisy LU and Hyötyläinen, Mika
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-07-31
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- keywords
- Housing cooperative, social policy, land policy, housing policy, Finland
- in
- International Journal of Housing Policy
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85166270046
- ISSN
- 1949-1247
- DOI
- 10.1080/19491247.2023.2235766
- project
- The ‘shape-shifting’ container of housing cooperativism: An exploration of the changing relationship between housing cooperativism, state, and market in Finland
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Daisy Charlesworth is a doctoral researcher in Human Geography at Lund University, Sweden. Her research focuses on the role of housing in the urban political economy and the potentials of cooperative alternatives to capitalist modes of housing provision. She is particularly interested in exploring the relationship between housing cooperatives, state and market and the subsequent roles housing cooperatives might play in contemporary welfare state restructuring processes across different housing systems and geographical contexts.
- id
- 4ebcd288-55d8-4b97-8ee4-2ab77e192489
- date added to LUP
- 2023-08-17 14:51:54
- date last changed
- 2023-09-24 04:00:09
@article{4ebcd288-55d8-4b97-8ee4-2ab77e192489,
abstract = {{This article explores some of the key institutional challenges hindering the development of a new ‘social’ housing cooperative model in Finland. In response to rising housing unaffordability and insecurity in the private housing sector, and a retrenching social housing sector, Finland is experiencing a resurgence of practical and political interest in housing cooperatives. Based on a document study and interviews with key stakeholders, this paper investigates three Finnish housing cooperatives, all of which are part of a broader state-subsidised pilot study. Despite different operational dynamics across projects, in this paper we identify three overarching ambiguities in Finnish land and housing policy which are hindering their development. Firstly, despite support from public authorities, cooperatives are difficult to categorise within existing social housing frameworks. Secondly, due to temporally-restricted regulatory instruments, authorities are also sceptical of their long-term affordability. Tying these together, we suggest, is also a further third factor. Namely that, due to its entrepreneurial real estate policy, the City of Helsinki refuses to lease land under market rent to housing cooperatives. Contributing to international scholarship on the public-cooperative nexus, this article investigates the impacts these institutional ambiguities and contradictions can have on contemporary housing cooperative developments.}},
author = {{Charlesworth, Daisy and Hyötyläinen, Mika}},
issn = {{1949-1247}},
keywords = {{Housing cooperative; social policy; land policy; housing policy; Finland}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{07}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{International Journal of Housing Policy}},
title = {{Housing cooperatives and the contradictions of Finnish land and housing policies}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2023.2235766}},
doi = {{10.1080/19491247.2023.2235766}},
year = {{2023}},
}