Shaping post-homeownership futures in Barcelona housing
The homeownership landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, redefining traditional models. In this metamorphosis, transnational landlords, rental platforms and a new cadre of renters and rentiers are asserting their presence – reshaping urban political economies. The O2A project, funded with support by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions has been instrumental in navigating this transition, examining strategies aimed at rectifying the power differentials and wealth imbalances inherent in this changing dynamic.
The property aftermath
Lorenzo Vidal, O2A project coordinator, pinpoints the property structures post-2008 economic crisis as well as understanding social conflicts in housing and the digital infrastructures and information asymmetries, as crucial to understanding the post-homeownership phenomenon. He also refers to the transactional nexus of pension funds and housing regimes and the challenges of housing discourse as factors. “The project has empirically traced the concentration of ownership in the housing sector and the socio-economic profile of landlords in the expanding private rental market, featuring a relatively wealthy local ‘landlord generation’ and the asset managers of foreign pension funds,” adds Vidal. “Whereas both tenants and landlords are employing new digital tools, the latter are structurally advantaged by their economic position and by the protections offered by current privacy, liability and property laws.” Through empirical analysis, the project challenged prevailing discourses within the private rental housing sector. It identified and critiqued arguments from political parties and landlord organisations opposing pro-tenant measures, exposing their empirical and theoretical frailties.
The social contract data challenge
O2A encountered limitations in the private rental sector, where the property-structure data is both opaque and scarce. The reluctance of major real estate digital platforms and asset managers to participate in interviews hindered direct access to crucial information. O2A’s solution was to utilise available private and public databases, surveys and data from civil society organisations. Because of this limited access to the private rental sector, some results were limited to approximations. In the pursuit of drafting novel 'social contracts' for post-homeownership societies, the O2A project envisioned a paradigm shift away from the dominance of property ownership. It emphasised the emergence of housing rights organisations and tenant unions advocating for rent controls and public or cooperative housing. However, it also delineated the entrenched resistance posed by vested interests within the existing property framework. “The O2A project has contributed to providing transparency to the property structures of the rental housing sector and theoretical and empirical evidence that problematises the dominant discourses against favouring tenants,” comments Vidal.
Ways to balance the housing power relationship
The study of digital counter-infrastructures – designed for and by tenants and urban dwellers – showcased their potential as key organisational and institutional innovations. An example is Stop Evictions!. This engagement highlighted the transformative potential of these initiatives in rebalancing power relations within the housing market. “It has assessed the practical potential and limits of these digital counter-infrastructures in impacting power relations in the housing market, through interviews with key participants as well as through participatory-action research in tenant movement digital initiatives,” adds the project coordinator. Lorenzo Vidal will consolidate the findings and disseminate them through academic publications. As a Ramon y Cajal postdoctoral fellow at the Open University of Catalonia, the next steps involve further research development and exploration of related projects to deepen the understanding of evolving housing and societal frameworks.
Keywords
O2A, housing, homeownership, landlords, rental platforms, digital infrastructures, real estate digital platforms, rent controls
